KUALA LUMPUR: Marcus Lim's hopes of pulling off a sensational victory on his first professional start at the PKNS Selangor Masters has waned after he battled to a third-round one-over 71 on Friday.
On a day when his fellow contenders enjoyed a good day at the Seri Selangor Golf Club, Marcus could only muster three birdies against four dropped shots, which included three bogeys in his opening five holes, to reach the 54-hole mark in a tie for third at five-under 205.
This leaves Marcus with a mountain to climb as he will enter the finale with a six-shot deficit to overcome after overnight leader Rahil Gangjee of India carded a 67 to move to 11-under 199.
The 45-year-old also endured a difficult start but he responded to the back-to-back bogeys on four and five holes with five birdies over the next seven holes to put himself in the driver's seat for the victory.
Rahil holds a five-shot advantage over Deyen Lawson of Australia, who surged to solo second spot after firing a 64, the lowest round of the week.
Last year's runner-up Runchanapong Youprayong of Thailand shot a 66 to be tied for third with Marcus.
The other two Malaysians in the top 10 were Paul San and Shahriffuddin Ariffin, who registered 68 and 71 to sit seventh on 209 and eighth on 210, respectively.
Marcus, who turned professional just last week, has refused to throw in the towel just yet.
"It was a bit rough at the start; I was three over quickly. However, I managed to hold my own and made a couple of birdies after that rough stretch. I'm just happy with how the round ended — it was a grind.
"I'm six back right now, but anything can happen. It's 18 holes, so I'm just going to try to make as many birdies as I can, roll in some putts, and see how it goes," said Marcus, who helped Malaysia win the men's team gold at the 2022 Vietnam Sea Games.