November 15: Local hero Hung Chien-yao (main picture) stayed out in front at the US$400,000 Taiwan Glass Taifong Open after Saturday’s third round today – but his lead was cut by a fast-charging Ekpharit Wu, who made a hole-in-one and an eagle.

At the par-72 Taifong Golf Club, Chinese-Taipei’s Hung shot a two-under-par 70 to move to 16-under for the tournament, leading by a slender margin of one shot over Ekpharit.

The Thai golfer carded a 65 that included a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth hole, while he nearly made an albatross on the par-five 17th before securing the three. He had started the day six shots behind Hung.

Sweden’s Charlie Lindh (67) is in solo third place at 11-under, while Thailand’s Sarut Vongchaisit (69) holds fourth at nine under.

All four players are looking for their first win on the Asian Tour.

Ekpharit Wu of Thailand. Pictures courtesy Taiwan PGA.

Three players are tied fifth on eight-under, including two from Chinese Taipei – Chi Huang (68) and Liu Yen-hung (68) – plus Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig (70).

The 33-year-old Hung has never lost his Asian Tour membership in 12 years but is in danger of doing so this year after dropping to No110 in the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has been playing with his back against the wall and is hopeful of getting the job done tomorrow.

After a round in which he was even-par after 12 holes before making three birdies in his last six holes, Hung said: “I hung in there today. Still glad I managed to finish on 70 today and stay in the lead. I wasn’t as comfortable as I was the last two days. But I told myself to just play, it’s just me against the course. I can’t really control how other people play.

“This is the first time I’ve played with Ekpharit, and he is a strong competitor! He made a hole-in-one and almost had an albatross! It was so good to watch. But who knows? It might be my turn to make an ace tomorrow.  I don’t think I’m nervous, but I’m definitely excited about what tomorrow holds.

“I just needed to focus on myself and my own game. I told my caddy to scold me and wake me up tomorrow if I were to drown myself in negative thoughts. You need some luck to win. Hopefully, I will be lucky tomorrow.”

Ekpharit was even-par through the first six holes and did all his scoring in the last 12.

His second ace in a competition, and the fourth of his life, was courtesy of a perfect nine-iron tee shot from 170 yards, and the eagle on the penultimate hole was set up by a laser-guided four-iron from 220 yards, which flirted with the hole and stopped one foot away for a tap-in eagle. If the ball had gone in, it would have been his third career albatross.

Charlie Lindh of Sweden. Pictures courtesy Taiwan PGA.

“Today, I felt a bit nervous at the start, but then I thought everything just came together. I felt like I could do everything that I wanted to do, like hit every shot the way I chose to hit. I don’t know how to say it, but whatever I wanted to do, I could do it,” said Ekpharit, whose father is from Chinese Taipei.

“Even when I made the two bogies today, I just forgot about it. I never let it affect me.  Just go to the next shot.

“I am in a good position for the tournament and tomorrow, I just want to have fun.”

The 28-year-old Lindh has been a consistent performer on the Asian Tour and has two top-10s in International Series events this year.

“It was a good day and I played solid. Most of the holes on the back nine, I didn’t play as good as I did on the front nine. I hit the greens in the wrong spot and it’s not easy to make putts from the wrong spots on these greens. You need to be in the right positions,” said Lindh.

“I had a good start to the season, but I’ve been struggling a little bit in the middle. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to shoot low scores, but have not got it together for four rounds.”

The Taiwan Glass Taifong Open is the 18th leg of the Asian Tour’s 2025 season. There are three more events left on the schedule.