Greater Noida, 25-04-2013
Mukesh Kumar and Manav Jaini hold the advantage ahead of final round
Mhow golfer Mukesh Kumar and Delhi’s Manav Jaini hold the joint lead after round three of the Jaypee Greens Open 2013 being played at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort in Greater Noida. Mukesh and Manav have identical scores of 10-uner-206 after three rounds. Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh and Mandeo Singh Pathania of Greater Noida are one shot behind the joint leaders in tied third place.
Mukesh Kumar (72-67-67) climbed from overnight tied fifth into the joint lead as a result of his brilliant round of five-under-67 which also happened to be the joint best round of the day. Mukesh was on fire from the word go on Thursday as he sank four straight birdies from the second through to the fifth. His tee shot on the par-3 third ended up five feet from the pin. The 47-year-old then played some outstanding shots with the wedges that landed within four feet on the fourth and fifth holes.
Mukesh found the bunker on the eighth and as a result dropped his lone bogey of the day. However, he recovered well from the bunker on the 15th to earn a birdie. The seasoned campaigner holed a 15-footer for his final birdie of the day on the 17th.
“I hit it extremely close today and enjoyed a golden phase from the second to the fifth where everything landed within five feet. The third shot from 130 yards out on the fourth hole ended up just four feet short of the flag. That was easily the best shot of the day. My confidence is high going into the final round as I’m playing some solid golf having dropped just one bogey in the last two rounds,” said Mukesh.
Manav Jaini (68-67-71) held on to his overnight joint lead with a resolute one-under-71 on Thursday. Jaini had an ordinary start as he bogeyed the first hole for the third day in succession. He found the bunker on the first and missed an up and down from there. Manav then salvaged his round by converting 15-footers for birdies on the sixth and 12th. He had a good par save on the 15th where he made a chip-putt from the front edge.
Jaini said, “I’ve had a great week so far as I’ve been striking it well and have dropped just three bogeys in three days. Unfortunately, I couldn’t land it close enough today. All my putts had a chance but most of them rolled past the hole. I’ll have to play with a lot of intensity in order to have a chance in the final round.”
Harendra Gupta (67-71-69) and Mandeo Singh Pathania (67-68-72) are in tied third place with matching totals of nine-under-207.
M Dharma of Bangalore is a further stroke back in fifth place.
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