Panchkula, Haryana, 26-09-2013

Shankar Das and Chikkarangappa take centre-stage in round three

Kolkata’s Shankar Das and Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S took centre-stage in round three of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Panchkula Golf Club. Both golfers ended day three with identical totals of 13-under-203 to be placed in the joint lead. Amardip Sinh Malik of Meerut and Delhi’s Shamim Khan are three strokes off the lead in tied third position.

Shankar Das (67-69-67), climbed from overnight tied third to joint first after returning a spirited five-under-67, the day’s best score. Shankar had faltered with a bogey on the seventh but soon picked up the pace with an astonishing run of five consecutive birdies from the ninth through the 13^th. The 30-year-old’s approach shots on the ninth and 10^th stopped five feet from the pin and resulted in birdies.

Das, a winner of three titles, then drove the green on the par-4 11^th and found the green in two on the par-5 12^th to accumulate two more birdies. The man with the unconventional swing made it five birdies in a row after he came agonizingly close to a hole-in-one with his eight-iron tee shot on the 13^th. Shankar pocketed his last birdie of the day on the 16^th.

Shankar said, “I was aiming to play some steady, conservative golf after the bogey on the seventh but the birdies kept coming thereafter as I was striking it well. I also made more putts as compared to the previous round. My best shot of the tournament so far came on the 13^th where I missed a hole-in-one by a whisker.”

“I’ve just played 10 weeks of competitive golf this year due to my mother’s ill health and that’s the reason for my lack of consistency this season. But now I feel I’m back in my rhythm,” added Shankar, who is looking for his fourth professional title.

Chikkarangappa S (66-69-68), who was overnight second, looked likely to emerge as the sole third round leader for most part of the day until he stumbled on the 18^th. He opened the day with a birdie on the first before three-putting for bogey on the par-3 fourth. It was one-way traffic thereafter as the 20-year-old rookie picked up seven birdies over the next 13 holes to open up a three-shot lead at the top. Chikka sank birdie putts from a range of 15 to 20 feet on the 10^th, 13^th and 17^th and came up with a brilliant bunker shot to set up birdie on the 11^th.

The Bangalorean, who hails from the Eagleton Golf Resort, ended the day with a disastrous triple-bogey on the 18^th after hitting his tee shot out of bounds and missing a chip-putt. Chikka, looking for his maiden title, thus posted a 68 to end up as the joint leader along with Das.

Chikka said, “It was all going for me today. However, I had just one bad shot that made a big dent in my score. Nonetheless, I’m confident going into the final round as all aspects of my game are in top shape. I fancy my chances of shooting a good number here as the layout is quite similar to my home course. I’ve also won a title as a junior at Panchkula and that has added to my self-belief.”

Delhi’s Shamim Khan (68-68-70) and Amardip Sinh Malik (68-69-69) of Meerut are likely to provide some stiff resistance to the joint leaders’ on the final day as they are currently in tied third place at 10-under-206.

Panchkula’s Angad Cheema, Australian Kunal Bhasin and Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad are in tied fifth at nine-under-207 while Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh lies a further shot back in eighth position. 

Rahul Bajaj of Noida, the overnight leader, slipped to tied ninth after a round of 76 on day three. Bajaj now shares ninth place with Karnal golfer Maniram Sharma, Mukesh Kumar of Mhow and Delhi’s Manav Jaini at seven-under-209.