Late rally saves 71 but Chan falls to joint 13th

MANILA, Philippines -- Aidric Chan battled back from a wobbly stretch to card an even-par 71, but the late recovery did little to keep his title hopes alive as he slipped to a share of 13th after three rounds of the Singapore Open at Sentosa’s Serapong course on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Filipino showed early promise, shaking off an opening-hole miscue with birdies on Nos. 4 and 8 to briefly steady his campaign. However, he struggled to build momentum from there, stringing together a series of pars as missed opportunities began to mount.

Trouble struck late in the round when Chan faltered off the tee and with his irons on the 16th, leading to a costly bogey. Another dropped shot followed on the par-3 No. 17 after he missed the green, pushing him to one-over for the day on the par-71 layout.

Refusing to fold, Chan closed with a flourish. He delivered two solid shots on the par-5 18th and calmly drained a one-putt birdie to salvage a 71, bringing his three-day total to four-under 209.

Despite the gritty finish, Chan, who started the round at joint 10th, now finds himself nine strokes off the lead heading into the final round.

South Korea’s Jeongwoo Ham tightened his grip on the tournament with a 68, reaching a 200 aggregate to extend his lead to four shots. Australia’s Cameron John surged with a 67 but remained well behind at 204, while Tomohiro Ishizaka stayed in contention at 205 after a 70.

It proved to be a challenging “moving day” for Chan, who managed to hit just seven fairways and 10 greens in regulation. Still, he showed resilience on the greens, needing only 28 putts and saving par multiple times through sharp scrambling.

Justin Quiban also endured a difficult round, struggling to a 74 that dropped him to a share of 61st place at 216.