Thailand’s Poom Saksansin, one of the shortest hitters in the field playing one of the longest and toughest courses of the season, proved that distance isn’t everything today by taking the third-round lead in the Kolon Korea Open – on the Dunes Course at La Vie Est Belle golf club.

Poom, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, returned a two-under-par 69, helped by a brilliant day on the greens, to lead by one, on seven under, and put himself on the road to an unlikely victory.

His compatriot Sadom Kaewkanjana, paired in the same final group today, is in second place after also shooting 69. The third member of their group, Songgyu Yoo, the leader at the start of the day, is next best placed two shots back. The Korean led for much of the day, but triple bogeyed the 16^th – if not for that he would have been the joint leader.

The statistics show that Poom was the shortest off the tee for the first two rounds, out of the players who made the cut. He averaged 250.67 yards, which is very short by today’s standards. However, he has let his touch, and indeed his calm temperament, doing the talking on a golf course that mirrors the set-up of a Major, and is not taking any prisoners.

Sadom Kaewkanjana.

He made three birdies and dropped only one shot, draining putt after important putt, like the 12-footer for par on the 15^th, and another from the same length for par on the next. On the last it looked like he might drop a shot after finding a green bunker, that left him with a difficult shot from 46 yards. Undeterred he splashed out to a foot and tapped in for par.

“Good up and downs, really good,” said Poom, who last win was the Yeangder TPC in 2023.

“I putted better than I expected, but my shots were not as good as I expected too. Maybe I got a little bit chicken, I think, because I was in a good position, so my swing wasn’t as consistent.”

Victory tomorrow also brings with it a place in The Open, as this week’s event is part of the Open Qualifying Series.

It’s an incredible additional prize but that’s not on his mind too much.

He added: “No, to win this would be big enough, winning is big enough.”

Sadom has not tasted victory since winning the SMBC Singapore Open five years ago. He was joint second in the season opening Smart Infinity Philippine Open and will have another great chance tomorrow to finally get his hands on some more silverware.

“I played with Poom today and will tomorrow. He played so well, and his short game is fantastic. The putting was so good, so just fun to play with him.

“Tomorrow is going to be fun and a big incentive to try and make it into The Open.”

Songgyu Yoo.

The Thai finished joint 11^th in the only time he played in The Open, in 2022.

Yoo, the tournament’s surprise package with only a handful of top-10s on the Korean PGA over the past decade, was left to rue the costly par-five 16^th, where he second found trouble.

He explained: “I hit the ball into the penalty area (hazard), so that was unfortunate. My shot went right, it was just a miss. The ball went where it shouldn’t have gone. I was going for the green.”

Korean Yunseok Kang is in fourth spot, four off the lead, following a 68, ahead of compatriot Giwhan Kim, a stroke behind after a 72.

Zimbabwean Scott Vincent fired a 72 and is in a group of six players six behind Poom.

Picture courtesy Korea Golf Association.