EUROPEAN

• Nirat's eagle enough for Singapore Open lead

  
  

  Singapore (Sports Network) - Chapchai Nirat eagled the 11th hole Saturday and moved atop the leaderboard during the suspended third round of the Singapore Open.

  Nirat is five-under on his round through 12 holes. He sits at nine-under par and is two in front at Sentosa Golf Club.

  Thomas Bjorn, Simon Dyson and Chih Bing Lam are tied for second at minus- seven.

  The leader in the clubhouse is a double-major winner from this year. Padraig Harrington fired a five-under 66 and is tied for fifth with, among others, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.

  "I played well," said Mickelson. "I'm very much in contention but I need to make a few birdies tomorrow to make an impact. There are a lot of good players up there." Nirat is definitely one of those good players. He finished second on the Asian Order of Merit last year, but is not considered in the league of those pursuing him on the leaderboard.

  "I'm not going to think about the players behind me," acknowledged Nirat. "I'm feeling really confident as I'm hitting my driver and three-wood well. It's important to lead this event going into Sunday, but it'll certainly be a very long day with so much golf to play." Nirat holed out his approach from 118 yards out on the 11th hole to grab sole possession of the lead. He's won twice on the Asian Tour, but knows this is one of the biggest tournaments on his circuit.

  "I'm going to take it easy tonight by watching Thai movies and get ready for tomorrow," said Nirat. "I was always aiming to play well here as I like this golf course." Jeev Milkha Singh and Rory McIlroy joined the major-winning trio at minus- five.

  The third round will resume Sunday morning and the fourth round will follow.

  11/15 12:22:42 ET