It’s a real golfing logjam atop of the leaderboard heading to the final round of the Link Hong Kong Open in suburban Fanling.
Four players – American John Catlin, India’s affable Anirban Lahiri, both former Asian Tour number ones and multiple tournament winners, Belgium’s super talented Thomas Pieters and American Caleb Surratt – share the lead on 14-under after Catlin and Pieters posted five-under-par 65s, Lahiri a 66 and Surratt a 67.
Hong Kong’s own Matthew Cheung is just two shots back in a tie for fifth, along with Kalle Samooja from Finland.
Cheung is bidding to become the first player from the territory to win the tournament and started golf’s traditional ‘moving day’ in the lead and shot a 71, while Samooja fired a 63 – the best round of the day.
Catlin, the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM) champion, made a brilliant sand save on the iconic par-four 18th on the Composite course at the Hong Kong Golf Club for a par to stay in front. His third shot finished close to the back lip of the front greenside bunker but he splashed out to two feet.
LOGJAM HEADING FINAL ROUND @TheHKOpen …
With four players sharing the lead at 1⃣4⃣-under, including former @asiantourgolf No. 1s John Catlin & Anirban Lahiri plus Thomas Pieters & Caleb Surratt
A further 6 players within four shots of the lead
Read: https://t.co/bgkQrKalSf
Getty
✅ @TOURMISS
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) October 24, 2026
He said: “You know me and my coach have put in a lot of work, just kind of tightening things up a little bit and it’s just nice seeing some of the fruits of that. I mean I’ve been hitting it better and better and just was kind of waiting for the putter to get a bit hot, and it’s been good. It’s been good so far, and you know we got one more day.”
He made six birdies and dropped only one shot, on the 14th, and is looking for this first win on the Asian Tour since triumphing in the Saudi Open in 2024.
“I think this is my fourth or fifth Hong Kong Open, and everyone I’ve been a part of has been pretty close. So yeah, I mean, it’s one of those courses where you gotta just battle it out, and you know it’s probably gonna come down to those last few holes,” said the 35-year-old, who has won six titles on the Asian Tour.
It has been quite a bit longer since Lahiri tasted victory on the Asian Tour. His most recent was the Hero Indian Open in 2015, the year he won the OOM – soon after which he focused on the PGA Tour.
He also dropped just one shot today and made five birdies.
Asked about the winning score tomorrow, he said: “It’s hard to say. You know, like going to bed last night, I would have thought I had to get closer to 18 or 19 today, if the course played the way it did the first two days. But today the course played completely different and tomorrow will probably be a tougher version of what we saw today. That’s what I expect.”
The Indian star was paired with Cheung today and was full of praise for what the Hong Kong player is doing this week.
“I mean, I’ve played with Matthew before, in fact the last time we played, they had just gotten pregnant at the time, right?” he said.
“So, water under the bridge. It’s obviously great to see the support he’s getting. He had a tough day today, and I can only imagine because, you know, I’ve been in his shoes trying to win Indian Opens and play in front of home crowd, and it’s tough. But I think he hung on pretty tough for not having his best today.”
Cheung salvaged his round with his only birdie of the day on 17, having made three bogeys earlier.
He said: “100%, you know if you asked me at the start of the week if I would be happy to be within two of the lead heading into Sunday I would be ecstatic. Not the best day out there but I grinded it out there.”
No local player has won the event in is 65-year history. Dominique Boulet, the Chairman of the Asian Tour and widely regarded as the voice of Asian golf thanks to his work with the Tour’s commentary team, finished fourth in 1996 – the best result by a Hong Kong golfer.
New Zealand’s Nick Voke came in with a 64 and is the next best placed player in seventh place, three behind the leaders.
Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert returned a 71 and is in a tie for 65th place on two under. It’s not the week the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader was looking for but it will keep him in the points with one event remaining: the Philippine Open presented by Philippine Sports Commission in two weeks.
He leads the OOM on 1,359.52 points, 192.57 ahead of Australian Travis Smyth in second place. Ian Snyman from South Africa is third, 462.64 points back from Pavit. With Snyman carding a 66 to lie in equal 11th position, five shots off the pace, he looks like being the player to make the biggest move at the moment. The winner this week will earn 787.5 points while the runner-up received 427.5.
As well as the honour of winning one of the jewels in the crown of Asian golf tomorrow, the Hong Kong champion will also earn invitations to the 2027 Masters and 155th Open Championship at St. Andrews.
- Copy thanks to Asian Tour.
