India’s Rashid Khan and Kieran Vincent from Zimbabwe are joint third, two strokes further back, after they both shot their second successive 67s – in the US$2 million Asian Tour event that is part of The International Series.
Lee was in complete control and had a six-stroke lead over Jazz with two to play, after putting together another stunning round – highlighted by seven birdies in eight holes starting from the eighth – but let his pursuers back in with a fumble at the end.
He pushed his tee-shot right on the penultimate hole, lost his ball and made a bogey, before finding water with his third on the last en route to a seven.
It was not part of the script for a player who finished joint second last week after a final round 62 at the International Series Thailand, before picking up where he left off this week.
“Pretty good,” said in-form Lee – with seven top-15 finishes this year and due a win.
“I mean, everything was, I felt like I had full control of my golf ball, definitely on my iron shots. Just the last two holes kind of gave me a little hiccup for tomorrow, but I’m gonna change that around and play well tomorrow as well.
“I actually changed my putter two weeks ago in the first Thailand event, and I found something with that putter, and it’s definitely built more confidence towards my game and I think it’s working pretty well.
“I feel like I just set up the club, and just hit it. I mean, it’s so much easier to set up with this putter than the blade putter that I’ve been using, so yeah, I think the putter is working pretty well.”
Jazz triumphed in this event in 2019 – the year he won four times on the Asian Tour and claimed the Order of Merit title – and looks to have found some form entering the weekend after a far-from-satisfactory season.
He finished joint 12th last week for his best result of the season and feels he has been helped in his cause by switching to a broomstick putter.
“So last week, I was playing a Pro-Am with my playing partner,” explained Jazz, “and I was using a short putter on the practice round and on the Pro-Am day. And one of the amateurs, who is actually my friend, was using a broomstick putter and I had a little match with him, and I couldn’t hole any putts that day.
“We got three holes to go, and I just took his putter, and I putted with it for like the last three holes, and I’m like, maybe I need to go back to a broomstick. And that’s how I changed and how I got my best finish of the year, so I have to say thanks to him.”
Khan has been enduring one of his worst seasons but said something clicked with his swing two weeks ago at the Black Mountain Championship.
“I have been really struggling this year,” said the Indian, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour but a decade ago, when he won the SAIL-SBI Open and the Chiangmai Golf Classic in the same season.
“I was looking for something I could play with on the golf course. I was looking for something and it finally clicked when I was playing Black Mountain. After that it was all good.
“There were a lot of things I was working on so I can’t really say. I wasn’t holding the grip properly; I couldn’t feel my club on the backswing. I am now really surprised how well I am hitting the ball. Sometimes you make a few changes, they click, and you start playing well.”
He spent last week practicing in Bangkok as he forgot to enter the International Series Thailand, which was also the case for the Black Mountain Championship but, luckily, he received an invite.
The Indian has also registered six second-place finishes on the Asian Tour, four of those on home soil.
Asian Tour and International Series number one John Catlin from the United States fired a 66 and is in a large group in joint fifth, six behind Lee.
Defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar from India returned a 71 and is three under, which was the cut mark.
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