Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, January 12: Korean Kim Gi-whan burst through with a seven-under-par 64 to take the third round lead in Final Stage of the OneAsia Qualifying School.
The sensational score at Sutera Harbour Golf & Country Club gave him a four stroke lead with one round to play.
His countrymen Seo Jeoung-min and Song Young-han are in joint second place after firing rounds of 70 and 69 respectively.
Korean Kim Do-hoon is in outright fourth position, seven behind the leader, after firing a 67.
They are in a strong position to secure one of the 20 plus OneAsia cards.
Singaporean Choo Tze Huang, who carded a first round 79, gave himself a fine chance to complete an outstanding fight back by shooting a 64.
He is one over for the tournament in joint 23rd place.
With at least 14 tournaments on OneAsia this season offering an overall purse of nearly US$16 million the stakes are high for the entrants.
Many will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s Qualifying School winner Han Chang-won.
The Korean teenager claimed the Qualifying School by six strokes and went on to finish seventh on the money list with earnings of US$135,078.
The OneAsia season starts with the US$1 million Indonesia Open, to be played from March 15 to 18.
