Australian Adam Blyth renewed his love affair with the Maybank Malaysian Open when he snatched a one-shot lead after the third round on Saturday, placing a cloud on Danny Chia’s dream to become the first Malaysian to win the tournament.    

Adam Blyth Maybank Malaysian Open 

Blyth, who started the third round on the sixth post, eagled the 13th hole and fired six more birdies to end the day with a stunning six-under-par 66 to climb up the leaderboard and take the third day lead by a shot over China’s Liang Wen-chong (five-under-par 67) and Sweden’s Alexandero Noren (three-under-par 69).

The final round promises to be a thriller with a jam-packed leaderboard at Saujana Golf and Country Club. Thai star Prayad Marksaeng (65), American Anthony Kang (64) and England’s Miles Tunnicliff (63) are two shots off the pace while overnight leader Danny Chia of Malaysia was a further stroke behind after a 74 to lie alongside India’s Shiv Kapur, who shot a 66.
 
Blyth has fond memories of Malaysia and on Valentine’s Day, he produced a magnificent display to flirt once more with a first career victory at the US$2 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

“It would mean a lot. My first pro event was here and I finished well so it was a good start to my career. It would mean the world if I can win any tournament, but here will be great. But it’s a long way away and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” said the 27-year-old Asian Tour regular, who holds the lead on 14-under-par 202.

With his father Stephen on his bag, Blyth has registered 11 career top-10s in the region over the past four years and knows the door that leads to a career breakthrough must open sooner or later.

“I think what I’ve been doing this week is staying in my game, staying in my process and staying in my routine. I usually get ahead of myself thinking that I can win. If I can stay in the process and give it my best, we’ll see what happens. I can’t control what the other guys do,” said Blyth, who knocked in an eagle, six birdies against two bogeys.

Liang, Asia’s number one in 2007, has the pedigree to deny Blyth. The Chinese enjoyed a terrific finish with two closing birdies to sneak behind the new tournament leader on a sun-baked day.

“I was steady off the tee and my putting was also very good. I will try my best and hope to secure a good result. In golf, anything can happen. But I feel relaxed and calm and will head out with a similar approach in the final day,” said Liang, who is chasing a third career win.

Noren holed an audacious 30-foot birdie putt at the last hole which kept him in Sunday’s final group. “It was good – it actually felt a lot longer than it was because it was uphill and against the grain. I actually thought to myself ‘if I smash it, it might get there’ so I gave it everything and it was nice to see it dropping,” said the Swede.

Leading third round scores

202 – Adam Blyth (AUS) 66-70-66
203 – Liang Wen-Chong (CHN) 65-71-67, Alexander Noren (SWE) 63-71-69
204 – Miles Tunnicliff (ENG) 71-70-63, Anthony Kang (USA) 74-66-64, Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 69-70-65
205 – Shiv Kapur (IND) 70-69-66, Danny Chia (MAS) 66-65-74
206 – Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 71-69-66, Noh Seung-yul (KOR) 62-73-71
207 – Peter Lawrie (IRL) 72-68-67, Gareth Maybin (NIR) 69-69-69, Simon Griffiths (ENG) 70-66-71
208 – Johan Edfors (SWE) 69-71-68, David Horsey (ENG) 71-68-69, Stephen Leaney (AUS) 70-69-69, Scott Barr (AUS) 71-67-70, Phillip Archer (ENG) 69-69-70, Nick Dougherty (ENG) 66-70-72