Melbourne, Australia: Sampson Zheng Yunghe produced one of the great rounds in Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) history to surge to the top of the leaderboard at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Defying brutal conditions, the 22-year-old from China fired an amateur Composite Course record of six-under-par 65.
Heading into Sunday’s final round, Zheng is the only player in red figures at three-under 210. He holds a four-shot lead from Australian Billy Dowling with New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, the first-round leader, and China’s Ding Wenyi a further stroke back in a share of third place.
Zheng, who attends the University of California, Berkeley, said: “To be able to shoot 65 like I did in those conditions where everyone else is not having the best, it feels even more special.
“I’ve played in similar conditions, but nothing like this. This is the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in, for sure. I think I just got the best of the golf course today – but the golf course is still a beast.
“The second shots are rolling like 20, 30 yards when it’s downwind. Even on the tee box, I see my ball wobbling sometimes. There’s a lot of wind, and it’s playing really tough.”
Zheng started the day six shots off the pace in a tie for 13th and mastered the gusting winds on the famous Sandbelt venue to rack up four front-nine birdies with just one bogey.
He moved up a gear again with a spectacular eagle three at the long 10th which took him clear of the field.
Zheng, who was part of the winning Asia-Pacific team in the Bonallack Trophy in August, kept up the positive momentum with consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th before giving a shot back at the next.
Playing in his third edition of the AAC, Zheng parred his way in from there to break the amateur Composite Course record of 66 held by Sir Michael Bonallack, whom the trophy is named after, for 55 years and matched earlier this week by Kobori.
“I’m feeling really good. I didn’t watch the leaderboard really all day but when I saw that I was in a three‑shot lead, it felt really good to go from six down to three up," said Zheng.
Dowling battled to stay in contention throughout the day. After trading two birdies with four bogeys on the front nine and dropping another at the 12th, he bounced back with birdies at the 14th and 16th but bogeyed the 17th to finish the day one over for the Championship. The 18-year-old from Queensland has four wins since August and is making his debut appearance in the Championship.
Ding worked hard to stay in striking distance of his compatriot Zheng. The 2022 US Junior Amateur champion struggled early in his round, including a double-bogey six at the fifth hole. A birdie three at the ninth steadied the ship but he dropped shots at the 11th, 14th and 17th to post a five over round of 76 and finish two over.
Level with Ding is first-round leader Kobori, who carded a three-over 74. They are one shot ahead of Australians Max Charles and Jasper Stubbs in a tie for fifth.
Apart from Zheng, the only other under sub-par rounds came from China’s Zhou Yanhan, Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh and Indonesian Rayhan Latief.
Zhou produced a two-under-par 69 to sit eight-over and is tied for 16th on 221 while Anh Minh, a Bonallack Trophy team-mate of Zheng, is joint 14th on 220 after a 70. Latief also shot a 70 to move up to tied 24th on 224.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur field comprises 120 of the top male amateurs from the Asia-Pacific region. The 2023 field features players from 37 nations, all competing to secure an exemption into The Open and an invitation to the Masters Tournament in 2024.
The Championship was created in 2009 by the Masters Tournament, The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation in an effort to further develop amateur golf throughout the region.
For more information on the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, please visit AACgolf.com and follow @AAC_Golf on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.
