Clarke back in the pack in Thailand

Darren Clarke pictured during the Pro-Am at the Thailand Golf Championship at the Amata Spring Country Club, Chon Buri, Thailand. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour

Darren Clarke is 12 strokes behind Australia’s Marcus Fraser heading into the final round of the Asian Tour's US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship.

The Ulsterman added a one over 73 to a pair of 75s to share 46th spot on seven over par at the Amata Spring Country Club where the four players who finish in the top 12 and ties and who are not already exempt, will earn a place in The Open next July.

Fraser posted  two-under-par 70 to move one-shot clear on five under of India’s Anirban Lahiri, who kept his hopes alive of winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit crown and the tournament with a 68. Scores

Former world number ones Martin Kaymer of Germany and England’s Lee Westwood are lurking, just two shots behind Fraser in third place alongside overnight leader Tommy Fleetwood.

“It’s only a one-shot lead at the moment, which is almost irrelevant with the calibre of players that are on the leaderboard. So it’s just nice to be up there with them,” said Fraser, after returning with a three-day total of five-under-par 211.

Leading scores after round 3 of the Thailand Golf Championship being played at the par 72, 7488 Yards Amata Spring GcC course (am – denotes amateur):

211 – Marcus FRASER (AUS) 69-72-70.

212 – Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 71-73-68.

213 – Martin KAYMER (GER) 71-72-70, Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 70-71-72, Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 71-69-73.

214 – Jonathan MOORE (USA) 71-71-72.

215 – Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG) 73-76-66, Scott HEND (AUS) 70-74-71.

216 – Matthew STIEGER (AUS) 76-72-68.

217 – Sergio GARCIA (ESP) 71-75-71, Charlie WI (KOR) 74-72-71, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 72-71-74.

218 – Andrew DODT (AUS) 76-72-70, Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 74-73-71, Terry PILKADARIS (AUS) 77-69-72, Unho PARK (AUS) 76-74-68, Bernd WIESBERGER (AUT) 76-74-68, Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN) 78-68-72, WANG Jeung-hun (KOR) 73-72-73, Paul PETERSON (USA) 71-72-75.

Selected scores

219 – David LIPSKY (USA) 71-74-74.

223 – Darren CLARKE (NIR) 75-75-73, Bubba WATSON (USA) 76-70-77