Kuching, Malaysia, 06-07-2018

Gaganjeet Bhullar charges into contention with a 66 in round three, climbs to tied fifth, three behind leader

Gaganjeet Bhullar charged into contention with a six-under-66 in round three of the Asian Tour's Sarawak Championship in Malaysia.

Bhullar (68-68-66) gained five spots as he climbed to tied fifth at 14-under-202 on Friday.

The Indian trailed the leader American Paul Peterson by three strokes.

Gaganjeet, who has two runner-up finishes this season including one at last week's Queen's Cup, sank seven birdies and a bogey in what was his best round of the week.

He found all 14 fairways, missed only one green in regulation and made a total of 25 putts in round three to be in a good position to launch an assault for his ninth Asian Tour title, an Indian record.

Bhullar said, "I hit the ball really good. I hit all the fairways and missed only three greens. Overall it was a good day in terms of ball striking. I got off to a good start with two birdies and that gave me a lot of boost and confidence.

"I’m happy to be in this position. I’ve been striking the ball really good in the last four months. The trick is all mental now. If I’m able to do the same thing in the last few days, I will be happy with my game.

"It looks like it will be an exciting final round. It looks like the guy who is leading is playing some good golf. Golf is a funny sport and anything is possible. Everybody is giving their 100% and so am I. I’ll go out there and do my best.

"Game wise, I’m feeling really confident and I’ve been converting a lot of good scores and giving myself a lot of opportunities."

Himmat Rai dropped from tied seventh to tied 11th at 11-under-205 after a third round of 70.

Ajeetesh Sandhu moved into tied 16th after a 67 took his score to 10-under-206.

Chikkarangappa occupied tied 19th place at nine-under-207.

Khalin Joshi and Honey Baisoya were both in tied 31st at seven-under-209.

Among the other Indians, Aman Raj was tied 44th at four-under-212, Jeev Milkha Singh was tied 53rd at three-under-213 and Rashid Khan was tied 63rd at even-par-216.