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Tournament Navigation | Pucay, Que have Philippines in position for top fivetext size ![]() Kinnaird/Getty Images Angelo Que has two Asian Tour victories. Nov. 29, 2008 DONGGUAN, China -- The Philippines were poised for a strong finish at the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup after Angelo Que and Mars Pucay combined for a seven-under-par 65 in the third round fourball on Saturday. Que, the reigning Philippine Open champion, contributed five birdies while Pucay shot four birdies at the Mission Hills Golf Club as they ended the day in tied eighth place on 12-under-par 204. Japan's Ryuji Imada and Toru Taniguchi carded a 68 to lie in a share of sixth place on 202, eight shots behind joint leaders Spain and Australia. ![]() Prayad Marksaeng
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng shot their week's best of 64 to move into 12th place alongside England, while China also carded a 64 to haul themselves into 18th position in the 28-nation team competition. The Filipinos, who started the week by saying their goal was to earn some Christmas shopping money in China, were disappointed to drop two bogeys, including one on the last when Pucay three-putted and Que found the water with an errant drive. "We are pleased but a bit disappointed that we made two bogeys each which happened to be on the same holes," said Que, a two-time Asian Tour winner. "We're hitting the ball really good, especially at the start of the round. All in all, I think we could have done better. We're still in a good position after three rounds and tomorrow will be the day. Our main goal is to finish strong. If we can finish in the top-10 or top-five, that would be good." Pucay expects to feel the pressure in the final round's alternate shot foursomes format, in which the team carded a 72 on Friday. "I made two three-putts from outside the green today, which was disappointing. But I think seven under is a pretty good score. The foursomes tomorrow will be different and difficult as always. My partner is not used to hitting approach shots from 200 yards out as I don't hit the ball a long way but he'll have to do that tomorrow. But today, I hit my driver pretty solid and hopefully, I won't leave him too far behind," said Pucay. Thailand made a move up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round that was sprinkled with eight birdies, contributed equally by two-time Asian Tour number one Thongchai and Prayad, who has won three times in Japan this year. "We played well although we struggled on the putting surface. The greens are very tricky and we found it difficult to read the lines," said Thongchai. "Tomorrow, I think it'll be better. We'll change the teeing order and see how it goes. We don't play fourball and foursomes format all the time, only once a year at the World Cup, which makes it tough for us. The Americans and Europeans are more comfortable playing these formats." Home heroes Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong finally came alive in the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup, combining superbly for 10 birdies as they carded a 64 to move off the bottom half of the leaderboard. The 43-year-old Zhang brilliantly produced a chip-in birdie on the demanding 18th hole to erase the bitter memories of their double bogey in Thursday's opening fourball. "Finally, we have a smile on our face. We were four under after five holes which was a great start. On 18, we were quite nervous on the tee after what happened on Thursday and then none of us hit the fairway. "But I told Liang to not give up and to aim for a par. My lie was bad in the rough but luckily my chip shot found the hole. It was a great shot. Today's performance made us feel like we were the best team in the world today," said Zhang. India's Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh, who has won the Asian Tour's Order of Merit title with three events remaining this season, returned a 70 to lie in equal 20th place alongside Korea's Bae Sang-moon and Kim Hyung-tae (71) while Chinese Taipei's Lu Wen-teh and Lin Wen-tang, last week's winner of the UBS Hong Kong Open, shot a 69 to lie in 25th place. | ![]() |