Seongnam, Korea, 05-05-2018
Ajeetesh Sandhu goes into final round of GS Caltex Maekyung Open placed tied second, trails leader by one
Gaganjeet Bhullar in tied fifth
India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu held on to his overnight tied second place in round three of the 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship in Korea after signing for a three-over-74 on Saturday. Sandhu’s total of one-under-212 placed him just one shot off the lead. The Indian is now staring at his second Asian Tour title.
Overnight leader Dongha Lee of Korea kept his place atop the leaderboard by firing a 75. However, his halfway lead of two shots was reduced by one at the KRâ‚©1,000,000,000 (approx. US$925,000) Asian Tour event being played at the Namseoul Country Club.
Ajeetesh Sandhu, who won his maiden international title on the Asian Tour last year, mixed two birdies with three bogeys and a double-bogey in the penultimate round.
Playing under blustery conditions, Ajeetesh, the outright leader till the 16th hole, ended the day with bogeys on the last two holes to drop to tied second place along with Koreans Sanghee Lee and Sanghyun Park.
Ajeetesh, who posted his best result of the season, a tied 10th finish in Japan, just a fortnight ago, said, “I finished off badly and I’m one shot back. But there’s one more day to go and everything to play for. My scores don’t really reflect it, but I’ve been playing well all week. I’m happy with my game and there’s nothing wrong right now. I just have to play well tomorrow and see where I end up.”
India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar had an unforgettable round as he carded 18 straight pars to share fifth place with Thai golfers Jazz Janewattananond and Phachara Khongwatmai as well as Koreans Dongmin Kim, Junggon Hwang and Jooheung Chol at even-par-213 total.
Bhullar, the first player to win eight titles on the Asian Tour before turning 30, moved up four places from his overnight tied ninth on Saturday.
Gaganjeet said, “Staying patient was definitely the key for me today. It was a day of mixed emotions as I missed several birdie opportunities and I also made a few up and downs for par. It has been a long time since I had such a round. I remember having such a round in India several years ago and I won that tournament.
“Considering the weather and tough pin positions, it was a decent round for me. I’ve been driving the ball really well and I missed only one fairway the last three days. I’m hitting my irons well too and giving myself lots of birdie opportunities. The goal is to repeat what I’ve done and I know I have a chance if I can get in a good round tomorrow.”
Shiv Kapur slipped from tied fifth to tied 13th as a result of his third round of 74. His total stood at two-over-215.
Chikkarangappa dropped from tied ninth to tied 57th following his score of 80 in round three. His total read nine-over-222.
Arjun Atwal was tied 68th at 11-over-224.
Source: Asian Tour
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