Chandigarh, 19-09-2013

Gangjee in the ‘driver's seat' in round three

Akshay hangs in there, Randhawa slips

Rahil Gangjee was in the driver’s seat after round three of the PGTI Players Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club as he opened a three-shot lead courtesy a sublime five-under-67. The Kolkata golfer’s total score now stands at 11-under-205. Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh kept his hopes alive with a steady even-par-72 that placed him second at eigh-under-208.

Rahil Gangjee (67-71-67) fired his second 67 of the week to move up from overnight second position into the sole lead. Rahil, who was also the first round leader, had a bogey on the sixth due to a poor second shot but negated that with a birdie on the eighth where he holed a 12-footer.

Gangjee was then on a roll on the back-nine as he made a 15-feet birdie conversion on the 11^th and followed that up with an up and down from the bunker for birdie on the 13^th. The 35-year-old sank birdie putts from 45 feet and 15 feet on the 16^th and 18^th respectively and almost drove the green to set up another birdie on the 17^th. The winner of two professional titles, one each on the Asian Tour and PGTI, thus birdied the last three holes to end up with the day’s joint best score of 67.

“I drove the ball better today and made more fairways. I also converted more putts as I was quite comfortable on the greens. I just need to keep doing the same stuff in order to be right up there at the end. Akshay played really well. He can be a contender in the final round as it’s his home course and he knows the lines on the greens. He also got a taste of playing in the leader group today which will help him in round four,” said Gangjee, looking for his first title in five years.

Akshay Sharma (69-67-72), the overnight leader, held his own to close day three in second place. He made three birdies and three bogeys on Thursday. The highlights of his round were a 25-feet birdie putt on the eighth and a three-putt for bogey on the third.     

The 23-year-old Akshay, who turned professional in 2011, said, “I played a steady round today and achieved my target of playing level-par. The aim was to avoid bogeys at any cost. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself despite playing in the leader group for the first time on the PGTI. In fact, I got to learn a lot playing alongside experienced professionals such as Rahil Gangjee and Sujjan Singh.”  

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (72-70-67) of Bangladesh shot the day’s joint best score of 67 to be placed third at seven-under-209. Zamal made six birdies against a lone bogey. He was in excellent chipping form as he chipped-in for birdie on the 15^th and landed it within three feet on three occasions to set up birdies. Mollah signed off in style with four straight birdies from the 15th to the 18th. 

Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar and Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha are in tied fourth at five-under-211 while another Chandigarh golfer Sujjan Singh occupies tied sixth position along with Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow at three-under-213.

Randhawa makes a quadruple-bogey and an eagle

Jyoti Randhawa (68-74-74) fired a disappointing two-over-74 to slip from overnight tied 10^th to tied 15^th position with a total score of even-par-216. Randhawa’s eventful round featured a bogey on the first, a birdie on the fourth, a rare quadruple-bogey on the par-4 ninth hole and an eagle on the par-5 13^th. Jyoti hit it out of bounds twice on the ninth that led to his quadruple-bogey (8). He then recovered some lost ground by hitting the green in two shots on the 13^th and following that up with a 20-feet eagle putt.