BEIJING, 17 Sept 2016 (HK Golfer News Wire) - Shun Yat Hak finished his second round at the Ping An Bank Open early Saturday morning, making two birdies over his final four holes to take a one-shot lead into the third round.
Hak didn’t do anything remarkable in his third round, but he didn’t make any critical mistakes in the PGA TOUR China’s 10th tournament of the year, either. And although Hak trailed by as many as two shots during the middle of his round, the 22-year-old recovered nicely to shoot a 3-under 69 and finish at 17-under, a stroke ahead of Charlie Saxon and Xinjun Zhang.
As a teenager, Hak was the No. 1-ranked junior golfer in the world. But after one year of college golf at Georgia Tech to turn pro, his career went sideways. He dropped to as low as No. 1,857 on the Official World Golf Ranking and missed the cut in every Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada event he played in 2014 and 2015. Hak’s slow climb back into golf relevance has occurred over the last two weeks—with a tie for eighth at the Yulongwan Yunnan Open and a runner-up finish at the Chongqing Jiangnan NewTown KingRun Open last week. He’s currently No. 1,123 in the OWGR, still a long way from where he wants to be. But his progress is unmistakable and he’s had at least a share of the lead in a round in three of his last four tournaments. Ironically, the only tournament where he didn’t enjoy a lead at some point was last week in Chongqing when he tied for second.
Saturday, under par pleasant, partly cloudy conditions, it took a while for Hak to make his move. Saxon was cruising along with a three-shot lead through 10 holes. But birdies at Nos. 11 and 12 by Hak and a Saxon double bogey-5 at the par-3 13th vaulted Hak back into the lead. Meanwhile, Xinjun Zhang was quietly creeping up the leaderboard. After a 1-under 35 through nine holes, Zhang began his charge, with birdies at 10, 12 and 13 with an eagle at No. 11 tossed in. Zhang went into neutral for four holes before birdieing No. 18 to get into the final grouping Sunday, playing with Hak and Saxon.
Hak finished with a par at No. 17 then made a nerve-wracking eight-foot par save at the closing hole to preserve his lead, not necessarily a position he relishes—either Saturday or going into Sunday’s final round.
“It’s tough when you have the lead. But you just have to fight it, especially like today when you’re not swinging well and nothing is going my way,” said Hak. “You just have to keep grinding, and you can’t give up. I had to do what I had to do to get it done, and now I’ll continue on the journey of learning that.”
Despite his swing issues, it was a comfortable round for Hak, playing with Saxon and Dou. “I’ve been friends with Dou for a long time, and we really enjoy playing with each other,” Hak added.
Saxon recovered from his double bogey at 13 and bogey at 14 with a birdie at No. 15 and a 10-foot, par-saving putt at No. 16 after a poor birdie putt.
He didn’t dwell long on his missteps on Nos. 13 and 14. “I just hit two bad shots, and that cost me three shots,” Saxon explained. “I hit it left of the green on 13, down in a horrible spot. I found [the ball] there, and, unfortunately, I made double (bogey).”
On 14, Saxon pulled his tee shot left of the green, and facing a difficult chip, he didn’t hit a very good second shot and missed his par putt.
“That was rough. I was playing well and had a pretty sizable lead at that point. But I was happy with how I collected myself and made two birdies coming in,” Saxon added. “I really didn’t play too differently than I had the first two days. I just made two bad swings.”