Published July 17, 2008 on March 23, 2019

Elvira Edges Ahead in the Maybank Championship

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Nacho Elvira has a first European Tour title in his sights as he takes a two-shot lead into the final round of the Maybank Championship.

“The putter worked a bit better than yesterday, especially coming down the stretch. I’m very happy with a 66. It was tough with the heat and humidity today. I stayed patient and it paid off in the end,” said the Spaniard.

Elvira, a four-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, missed five straight cuts at the start of the season before finishing second in his last event in Qatar. 

“The confidence is coming back little by little. It was a tough start of the season with the driver especially. I worked really hard with the Callaway guys to get the driver ready, I think it’s working. I’m hitting more shots from the short grass so I’m happy,” he said.

He closed his third round at Saujana Golf and Country Club with back-to-back birdies to sign for an impressive round of 66, which moved him to 13 under par and gave him breathing space at the top of the leaderboard.

“I like the way things are right now with my swing. I like the way I’ve turned around my season a little bit. Let’s see what tomorrow brings,” he concluded.

American David Lipsky, who finished second at the Maybank Championship in 2017, made his move by signing for a 67 to take second place on his own. He is Elvira’s nearest challenger on 11 under par after carding seven birdies and two bogeys in his third round 67.

“My game is feeling pretty good. These last two days I’ve figured something out and just started clicking. The last two or three weeks my putting has held me back but I’ve been putting well the last two rounds. I’m excited for tomorrow.  Kurt (Kitayama) and I are good friends and I think we are feeding off each other, good momentum and positive vibes. We’ll try to keep that going.

“It’s a tricky course so you’re going to make bogeys out there, you’ve just got to make your share of birdies. If I can keep making birdies like I am, I think I’ll be alright. If I can shoot the same as I did today or yesterday I’ll be pretty happy. That’s all I can do, just put myself in position,” said Lipsky.

Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer, Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand and Australian Scott Hend are in a tie for third at ten under par, with the latter producing a crowd-pleasing moment when he found himself in the trees on the last and chose the perfect angle to bounce his third shot off the grandstand and onto the green. 

Hend, a nine-time Asian Tour winner, is seeking his first win since 2016 while Jazz is chasing his fourth Asian Tour victory and second in three months, as they both head into the final round, three shots back of Elvira.

Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman enjoyed his best round of the week so far by carding a 68 to move inside the top-10 to take a share of ninth place that also includes South Africa’s Louis De Jager and the English pair of Andy Sullivan and Ross Fisher.

Four-time Major winner Ernie Els and Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, whose 65 was the lowest round of the day and the joint lowest of the week so far, are at nine under par, with England’s Oliver Fisher one shot further back.

Nicholas Fung of Malaysia had a good day carding a three-under 69 for a joint 13^th placing while fellow pro, Gavin Green come back strong posting a three-under 69 for a joint 30^th position together with defending champion Shubhankar Sharma, Danny Masrin, Andrea Pavan and Julian Suri.

 

Round three scores

203 N Elvira (Esp) 65 72 66, 
205 D Lipsky (USA) 72 66 67, 
206 M Kieffer (Ger) 71 67 68, J Janewattananond (Tha) 66 72 68, S Hend (Aus) 69 70 67, 
207 E Els (RSA) 68 70 69, B Hebert (Fra) 69 73 65, 
208 O Fisher (Eng) 70 70 68, 
209 L De Jager (RSA) 71 69 69, R Fisher (Eng) 72 71 66, S Rahman (Ban) 70 71 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 72 70 67, 
210 F Zanotti (Par) 72 72 66, N Fung (Mas) 68 73 69, J Veerman (USA) 72 69 69, 
211 D Burmester (RSA) 68 70 73, P Meesawat (Tha) 68 71 72, P Peterson (USA) 70 68 73, L Herbert (Aus) 69 69 73, M Schwab (Aut) 66 75 70, M Southgate (Eng) 74 69 68, 
212 G Migliozzi (Ita) 71 68 73, Z Murray (Aus) 68 71 73, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 71 69 72, V Madappa (Ind) 70 72 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 75 68, M Kawamura (Jpn) 69 70 73, C S (Ind) 75 69 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 76 65 71, 
213 J Campillo (Esp) 70 73 70, K Broberg (Swe) 72 70 71, S Sharma (Ind) 71 68 74, S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 74 70, J Smith (Eng) 74 68 71, A Pavan (Ita) 69 71 73, D Masrin (Ina) 69 68 76, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 71 70, J Suri (USA) 69 71 73, K Kitayama (USA) 70 71 72, G Green (Mas) 74 70 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 69 74 70, 
214 S Norris (RSA) 71 71 72, M Fraser (Aus) 65 77 72, R Fox (Nzl) 71 73 70, P Harrington (Irl) 70 73 71, T Pieters (Bel) 67 69 78, M Pavon (Fra) 73 69 72, 
215 G Coetzee (RSA) 72 71 72, J Todd (USA) 73 71 71, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 72 69 74, 
216 R Rock (Eng) 73 71 72, C Paisley (Eng) 71 71 74, A Sandhu (Ind) 72 72 72, L Slattery (Eng) 72 71 73, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 72 72, R Gouveia (Por) 69 73 74, S Vincent (Zim) 70 72 74, B Stone (RSA) 68 74 74, A Que (Phi) 66 77 73, 
217 R Paratore (Ita) 73 71 73, W Lin (Tpe) 73 70 74, R McEvoy (Eng) 70 74 73, M Lee (Aus) 73 71 73, T Detry (Bel) 70 71 76, A Wu (Chn) 71 73 73, H Ryu (Kor) 74 70 73, 
218 M Choi (Kor) 71 73 74, D Law (Sco) 73 71 74, G Bhullar (Ind) 68 75 75, R Karlsson (Swe) 71 73 74, P Saksansin (Tha) 68 74 76, 
221 M Shin (USA) 74 70 77, 
222 N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 74 78, K Horne (RSA) 71 73 78,