Delos Santos back in hunt at Singapore Open with 68

MANILA, Philippines — Justin delos Santos endured a day-long struggle off the mound by coming through with superb iron play as he squeezed out a three-under 68 in tough conditions Saturday to get back into the thick of things, including a shot at a berth at the British Open, in the third round of the Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club.

Sadom Kaewkanjana also struggled with his long game but hit a combination of short game and putting to dish out a solid six-under 65 and force a tie at 11-under 202 with American Sihwan Kim, who matched the Thai’s closing birdie in the last flight to save a 69 at the tricky Serapong course.

Kim Joo Hyung likewise stayed in the hunt for a sweep of the Singapore events closing out the combined Asian Tour 2020-21-22 seasons due to pandemic, as he also cashed in on the par-5 finishing hole to card a 69 for solo third at 205, three strokes off the joint leaders.

Delos Santos also nurtured hopes for a career breakthrough, producing brilliant recoveries after hitting just half of the 14 fairways while preserving a pair of 34s with two scrambling pars for a 206. He missed just three greens and finished with 30 putts.

He flourished with three birdies against a bogey after nine holes coming off a scrambling 71 Friday that dropped him joint fifth from a share of second on a 67 in the first round of the $1.2 million championship where the top four unseeded players will earn slots to the world's oldest championship set July 14-17 at St. Andrews' Old Course in Scotland.

The 26-year-old Fil-Am missed a couple of chances in the first eight holes at the front but birdied the last to earn a shot at a first Asian Tour crown, along with Aussie Zach Murray, who rallied with a 65, and Japanese Yuto Katsuragawa, who carded a 68 at joint fourth.

Angelo Que, on the other hand, mounted an early surge with back-to-back birdies from No. 1 to go four-under overall but that proved to be the best that he could dish out in a day of changing fortunes as he bogeyed the next two, dropped two shots on No. 6 then yielded three more strokes in the first five holes at the back.

He birdied the last to finish with a four-over 75 as he fell to joint 47th at 215 that includes England’s Paul Casey, who matched par 71, and Natipong Srithong of Thailand, who wavered with a 75, after charging back to a share of 16th following a three-under 68 Friday.

Meanwhile, Sihwan Kim yielded the lead with a pedestrian 36 at the front but regained it with back-to-back birdies from No. 11 as Kaewkanjana dropped to second at 10-under after battling back from four down to wrest control with a stirring five-birdie binge after 10 holes.

Finishing at six-under 207, on the other hand, are former Philippine Open champion Steve Lewton of England, who also fired. 65, Korean Bio Kim, who put in a 66, and Finland’s Janne Kaske, who shot a 68.