Rayhan Thomas had a day to forget during the third round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship yesterday and is hoping to sign off with a much improved performance in the final round today at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon.

In the premier amateur tournament of the region, the winner of which gets a dream invitation to play the Open Championship and the Masters next year, Thomas dropped to five-over and in tied 28th place after a four-over par 76 round.

Birdies just dried up for the 16-year-old Dubai-based Indian as he eventually ended up with just one – on the 14th hole, which came after a double bogey on the 10th hole and three bogeys.

The putter remained cold for yet another day for the ‘golf in DUBAi’-supported MENA Golf Tour hero, but he remained optimistic of finishing on a high note.

“I have had a bad day but I just need to keep a good attitude. It’s not going to kill me,” Thomas told Sport360 after his round.

“The course played fair today. If you hit a good shot, you got rewarded, and if you hit a bad shot, you got penalized. I didn’t putt well today, which was similar to yesterday, but I did not hit too many good shots either.

“Putting was the main reason really, I just didn’t read them properly and didn’t hole any. I just could not get any momentum going. But I know that I am stroking my putts all right, there is nothing wrong with the way I am hitting them.

“So, I have got an early start tomorrow, which should probably help as greens will be in best condition in the morning. I want to close with a good round.”

The battle for the crown looks like to be a direct one between Australian Brett Coletta, who now has a two-shot lead over compatriot Cameron Davis.

One ahead of Davis at the start of the day, Coletta produced a third-round 68 to follow up on successive 67s in the opening two rounds. He sank a 40-foot putt at the par-three 17th and holed out for another birdie at the last to move to 14-under par, while Davis (69) was on 12-under par.

Junya Kameshiro (71), Japan’s top-ranked amateur, is placed third at eight-under. Australian Curtis Luck (70), the reigning US Amateur champion and the world’s second-ranked amateur, is fourth at seven-under.