Jaipur, 01-10-2015
Abhijit Singh Chadha maintains lead with a fighting 68, two clear at the top
Udayan Mane in second place, Sujjan Singh shoots hole-in-one to be placed third
Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha maintained his lead at the PGTI Players Championship at Rambagh Golf Club with a tenacious two-under-68 in round three to be two clear at the top at 15-under-195. Udayan Mane of Bangalore hung on to second place at 13-under-197 after firing a 67 on day three. Sujjan Singh, another Chandigarh golfer, fired a hole-in-one on the 11th during his round of 65 that propelled him to third place at 12-under-198.
Abhijit Singh Chadha (62-65-68), who led by three shots at the start of the day, put up a gritty performance in the penultimate round to enjoy a two-shot advantage going into the final day in Jaipur. Chadha, who won the 2012 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year title, had a quiet front-nine as he three-putted for bogey on the seventh before pulling it back with an up and down for birdie on the eighth.
Abhijit seemed to be losing ground when he failed to recover from the bunker on the 11th and conceded another bogey. But then he continued his sublime form on the par-5s, by making birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th and thus salvaged the day.
“I didn’t feel I was at my best today. My ball-striking was not as good as the first two days. But like round two, I once again scored birdies on all the four par-5s. I made chip-putt birdies on the eighth, 17th and 18th and was two-on on the 14th. If I play to my potential tomorrow, everyone will find it hard to catch up with me,” said a confident Chadha, who won his only professional title during his rookie season on the PGTI in 2012.
He added, “I was runner-up in Noida last year and finished third at Panchkula earlier this year but victory has eluded me of late. It’s a great opportunity for me to finally get another title against my name.”
Rookie Udayan Mane (61-69-67), who was overnight joint second, mixed five birdies with two bogeys on day three to continue in second place. Mane landed it within a foot on both the third and 16th for his most impressive birdies of the day. However, unlike his playing partner and current leader Abhijit Singh Chadha, he couldn’t make the par-5s count.
Udayan, who is now in contention for his maiden title, said, “I didn’t capitalize on the par-5s today. I also struggled with my long-irons. I need to improve in these areas to create chances for myself in the final round.”
Sujjan Singh (66-67-65) produced a magical hole-in-one on the 11th en route his round of 65 to be one shot behind Mane in third place. He also secured birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th with chip-putts on the first two and a tap-in after a missed eagle chance from 12 feet on the closing hole.
Sujjan, a multiple winner on the PGTI and a winner on the Asian Development Tour, moved up one place from his overnight tied fourth as a result of his brilliant third round effort.
Kolkata’s Shankar Das, lying overnight tied second, slipped to joint fourth at 11-under-199 after a round of 69 on Thursday. Delhi’s Shamim Khan posted a 64 in round three to share fourth place with Shankar.
Bangalore golfer Khalin Joshi and Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow were a further two shots back in tied sixth.
The Delhi duo of Siddharth Semwal and Vinod Kumar along with Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan, shot the day’s joint best score of seven-under-63.
Semwal’s 63 pushed him up from overnight tied 31st to tied eighth at eight-under-202. He made eight birdies and a bogey. Siddharth’s birdies included two chip-ins and a 30-feet putt. He closed his round in style with a spectacular approach from 140 yards on the ninth that landed two feet from the pin. Semwal made four straight birdies from the sixth through the ninth.
Vinod Kumar and Abhinav Lohan, both of whom were overnight tied 46th after making the cut by one shot, ended round three in tied 15th at six-under-204 thanks to their third round scores of 63. While Vinod carded a bogey-free round, Abhinav made eight birdies against a lone bogey.
Delhi-based amateur Shubham Narain exceeded expectations by closing the day in tied 12th at seven-under-203. His superb 64 featured an eagle, five birdies and a bogey.
Jaipur’s Vishal Singh ended the day in tied 33rd place at one-under-209 after a round of even-par-70.
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Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Kapil Dev (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
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