Dylan Frittelli kept his name inside the top 10 of the Hong Kong Open on a day when compatriots Thomas Aiken and Keith Horne tumbled out of contention, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Playing in the final pairing, Aiken struggled to replicate any of the form that saw him shoot Friday’s round of the day as he dropped 25 places on moving day. Chasing his first win since 2014, Aiken opened with three pars before his struggles commenced. Aiken went drop, par, double drop to fall from the first page on a day when scoring was far better than in previous rounds.
Aiken then made bogey on 8 and 9 to go out in 39; eight more than his tally at the same mark yesterday. It was a trio of bogeys when he made 5 at the 10. Fortunately for his hopes of securing a decent pay cheque, with the win out of the question, that would be his final drop of the day as he finally got a red number on the 11th with a three. The 34-year-old made his second birdie of the day at the 16th to sit at -3 through 54 holes – seven back of playing partner and leader SSP Chawrasia (69).
Like Aiken, Horne struggled on Saturday, with his birdie on the last doing little to limit the damage of seven bogeys. The South African plummeted 49 places to T56, leaving Frittelli the only South African in contention to challenge Chawrasia. The Indian leads by one from Rafa Cabrera Bello (64) and Wade Ormbsy (65).
Frittelli posted a two-under-par 68 on a steady day for the 27-year-old, where his birdie on the third – a hole where he has gained a shot all week – made the only impact on his card through nine holes. He got to -2 with a four on the 14th, but for the second day in a row bogeyed the 16th.
Frittelli got his tournament score back to six-under-par with a birdie on the last to sit in a share of eighth, with 18 to play to keep himself in contention for a second European Tour win.
To do that, Frittelli will need to go low on Sunday and overtake wire-to-wire leader Chawrasia, Cabrera Bello and 2017 Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood, who is two off the lead. Rose, who won in China and in Turkey before going close in Dubai last week, is on -5.
Photo: Arep Kulal/Getty Images
