New Delhi, 12-12-2024

Ajeetesh Sandhu fires steady 69 to stay ahead by two shots in round three; Jamal Hossain rises to second with day’s best 67

Ajeetesh Sandhu, the overnight leader by three shots, maintained his dominance in round three after he fired a steady three-under 69 to stay ahead by two shots at the INR 2 crore Vishwa Samudra Open 2024 presented by Kapil Dev being played at the esteemed Delhi Golf Club (DGC). The Chandigarh golfer’s 54-hole total read 11-under 205.

Bangladesh’s Jamal Hossain carded the day’s best score of 67 to rise one spot to second place at nine-under 207.

It seems to be a two-horse race between Ajeetesh (69-67-69) and Jamal (67-73-67) heading into the fourth and final round as there is daylight between the top two and the rest of the field. M Dharma (71) of Bengaluru was a distant third at four-under 212 while Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Sandhu (71) and Delhi’s Rashid Khan (72) were tied fourth at three-under 213.

International winner Ajeetesh Sandhu began the day on a positive note with a birdie on the second but then had some anxious moments with bogeys on the eighth and ninth. After finding the bushes and having an unplayable ball on the ninth, the 36-year-old Ajeetesh recovered well by making a tricky 10-feet conversion there to salvage a bogey when it could’ve been worse for him.

This was followed by an eight-feet birdie conversion by Sandhu on the 10th that proved to be the beginning of his comeback. Ajeetesh then capitalized on the remaining two par-5s, the 14th and 18th, with birdies and also scored a birdie with a short-range conversion on the 15th.

Ajeetesh, looking to win his first title at the DGC after coming close to achieving the feat a few times in the past, said, “I wasn’t as solid as I was in round two but still played steady. There were a few blips in the middle of the round but I’m glad that I finished well. If you hit some good shots on the last few holes at DGC, there are quite a few scoring opportunities and I was able to do that.

“At DGC, you will have very few spectacular days, so you just need to keep your head on your shoulders and look to score whenever you can. That’s what I did today. Both the 10-feet bogey conversion on the ninth and the birdie on the 10th turned out to be critical as they reset things for me. I have family with me here this week. So that’s a nice and calming feeling for me on a tough golf course like this.”

Jamal Hossain, winner of PGTI’s last event played in Assam last month, bounced back into contention with a 67 after being four shots off the lead in third position at the halfway stage. Jamal’s great ball-striking earned him birdies on three of the four par-5s. He had three more birdies on his card other than a lone bogey.

SSP Chawrasia (73) occupied tied eighth place at even-par 216 along with the likes of Rahil Gangjee (71), Udayan Mane (72) and Om Prakash Chouhan (73).

TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat (75) was tied 17th at three-over 219.