Rosales one shot behind with 62

Gerald Rosales set a course record 10-under par 62 at the Singapore Country Club’s Island Course yesterday in an amazing display of shotmaking and iron play that produced an incredible run of birdies as he moved within a stroke off the leader in the third round of the rich Singapore Open.

Birdies in the first three holes set the tone for Rosales’ romp as the 24-year-old Philippine Open champion shattered the previous mark of 63 he himself set when he won the Singapore Amateur Championship last year, finishing with an unbelievable 31-31 card that sparked hopes of another victory two weeks after he scored his first pro career win at Riviera.

"It was an exciting day. In the first two rounds I couldn’t drop anything, but today I needed just 23 putts," Rosales said.

So amazing was Rosales’ bogey-free round that he wound up with 10 birdies, six on the par-4 holes and three on the par-5s of a course that has been whipped by the men of the Asian PGA Tour in the past three days.

Starting the day eight strokes adrift of halfway leader Hendrik Buhrmann of South Africa, Rosales now lurks behind new frontrunner Jyoti Randhawa of India by just one stroke with a 54-hole aggregate of 202 -- 14-under par.

Randhawa also sizzled with a 65 as he overhauled a four-stroke deficit to surge ahead at 15-under 201 with 18 holes to play in this $400,000 event serving as the second to last leg of this year’s Davidoff Tour. Buhrmann had a 70 to drop in a tie with Rosales.

It was also a big comeback of sorts for Rosales, who after that stirring victory in the RP Open, played mediocre golf in the Thailand Open in Cha-am Thailand last week and missed the cut for only the second time in 13 appearances in the APGA Tour.

But after putting himself within striking distance of the leaders after 36 holes Friday, Rosales made his move by birdying the first three holes in the third round before adding two more on Nos. 6 and 8 for a 31.

After a routine par on No. 4, Rosales’ solid driving and superb iron shots came to fore again as he birdied the next and No. 13 before stringing another three-birdie splurge from No. 15 for another 31.

Danny Zarate also fired a bogey-less round of 66 to be at 12-under 204, while Mars Pucay shot a 69 for a share of 16th place at 208 aggregate.