Karandeep Kochhar celebrated his return to the Asian Tour by breaking the course record on the famous East Course at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club to take the third-round lead in the Philippine Golf Championship presented by Philippine Sports Commission today.

The Indian, who finished in the top-10 on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit last year to regain his Asian Tour card, fired an astonishing bogey-free seven-under-par 65 for a tournament total of eight-under.

South African Ian Snyman (70), Travis Smyth (71) from Australia, Thailand’s Sarut Vongchaisit (71) and Korea’s Wooyoung Cho (71), share second place – two strokes behind.

Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert (68) is in sole possession of sixth, another shot back.

Smyth, Sarut and Cho started the day sharing the lead along with Korean Jeunghun Wang – who returned a 73 today and is four behind the leader.

Breaking par on the East Course – respected for being one of the most challenging courses in the region – is an outstanding achievement. Kochhar’s round, therefore, may well remain as the performance of the year – even though this week is the season-opening event on the Asian Tour.

Karandeep Kochhar after making birdie on 17.

The golfer from Chandigarh said: “I think the way this course has been playing for the past two days and today, with a little bit of rain, which was there for maybe seven, eight holes, I would say I think it was probably one of my finest performances.

“Because it’s not easy out there to score, the greens are tiny, they can get quick if you’re on the wrong side of the hole. And yeah, I think I just played really well tee to green, that’s been the mantra this week, just try to hit as many greens as possible.”

He made six birdies: four in the first six, back-to-back ones on 11 and 12 and the final one, that allowed him to break the previous course record by one, on the legendary par-three 17^th.

About the penultimate hole, he explained: “I think I was adjusting between clubs today, between an eight and seven, because I think because of the weather, the way it was, it was a little bit humid, the ball wasn’t flying as far. So, my caddie and I just decided on the seven iron, like a chippy seven iron there.

“My iron play has been very good this week, and then I hit a good putt. I hit a good shot to whatever, like six, eight, feet or whatever, and then just trusted the line, trusted the pace. Which is what I did pretty much the whole day, tried not to get ahead of myself.”

He is back to the Asian Tour full time this year after finishing fifth on the ADT Merit list. He won the Egypt Golf Series – Red Sea Open on the ADT last year and had a runner-up result in Morocco.

He’d impressed on the Asian Tour in 2022 and 2023 but surprisingly lost his card in 2024 but looks determined to set the record straight from the get go this year.

Travis Smyth.

His round could not have come at a more appropriate tournament as the player who shoots the lowest each day wins a cheque for US$10,000, which the club are sponsoring.

The majority in the leading pack, including Kochhar, are trying to win for the first time on the Asian Tour.

Smyth is one of the exceptions, having claimed the Yeangder TPC in 2022.

“It was a bit bipolar today, honestly,” said Smyth about his day.

“My back nine I was hitting it all over the place. I don’t know how many fairways I hit. I would have only hit maybe two or three. And you know, to miss the fairway, like the fairways aren’t that hard to hit here, because you’re hitting four iron off the tee, and hybrid and five iron and stuff like that, and I was hitting it down the tree lines with those clubs.

“So, it was sort of the front nine was really solid and I somehow managed to shoot one under on the back, although I was hitting it everywhere. Anything under par is a good score, and today was one of those rounds where I’m just, I’m honestly surprised that I even managed to shoot under par. Like, it was a gritty, gritty up and down sort of round.”

Ian Snyman.

Snyman is another looking for a maiden win in the region, having come close on numerous occasions.

He said: “Very steady, basically, what the scorecard showed us today. I hit a lot of greens, hit a lot of fairways, when I was in trouble I managed to get up and down most of the time.”

He is also another who likes the course – despite the high level of difficulty.

“I like it, smart play and good ball striking gets rewarded, and that’s what excites me. I don’t like lucky golf, so if you’re in the trees it should be difficult. If you’re in the rough, it should be difficult, so this is my type of golf course,” he said.

Pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.