Jakarta, Indonesia, 06-08-2022

Rashid Khan joint leader at Mandiri Indonesia Open, Gaganjeet Bhullar in tied third; Anirban Lahiri is tied seventh at Wyndham Championship, two off the lead

India’s Rashid Khan and Atiruj Winaicharoenchai from Thailand took advantage of late lapses over the closing holes by their opponents to take the third round lead in the US$500,000 Bank Mandiri Indonesia Open, an Asian Tour event being played at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.

Khan posted a sublime bogey free eight-under 64 while Atiruj, who carded a magnificent 63 yesterday, fired a 68 for a tournament total of 14 under.

Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is bidding to win this event for a record third time after his successes in 2013 and 2016, shot 68 and is one shot back with Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat (72), the leader after rounds one and two, and Chapchai Nirat (68), plus Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun (72).

While Khan birdied the par-five 18th and Atiruj carded a par, Gaganjeet and Chang dropped shots on the same hole. Chapchai finished double-bogey and bogey while Itthipat staggered home with bogeys on 13, 15 and 17.

“Yeah, it was a pretty good round, I was minus five after nine,” said Khan, who has won twice before on Tour, both in 2014.

“I had that somewhere in my mind that I can close the gap [on the leaders] but I had no idea that it was going to be this situation in the end. I made really good birdies on 11 and 12 so I was seven under after 12, and knew we had like two or three good holes coming up. And I knew the stretch wouldn’t be easy. And so the pars I saved on 14, 15 and 17, you know that gave me the momentum.”

Among the other Indians, Veer Ahlawat (66) was tied 18th at nine-under 207 while Udayan Mane (67) was a further shot back in tied 25th.

At the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour, Anirban Lahiri maintained his resurgence with a three-under 67 for joint seventh at seven-under 133, just two back at the same event and venue where compatriot Arjun Atwal made history by becoming the first Indian winner on the PGA Tour in 2010.

 The joint lead was held by Korean Joohyung Kim and Americans Brandon Wu and Ryan Moore at a total of nine-under 131.

Five birdies against two bogeys kept Lahiri in the title hunt as he brushed off some recent poor form which has seen him miss four of his last five cuts. The 35-year-old is counting on his putter to light up over the weekend as he seeks his first PGA Tour victory. “I’ve been playing really solid. Today I hit it really good again. Bit of a cold day with my putter. Started out, had a lot of really good looks from short range, didn't make any and just couldn't build the early momentum,” said Lahiri.

“I played a lot better than my score, so I'm just going to stay relaxed and keep doing what I'm doing. I think I'm getting closer and closer to putting my best on these greens, so just got to stay a little more patient.”

Source: Asian Tour, PGA Tour

Picture: Asian Tour