New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) 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 in the INR 2 crore Vishwa Samudra Open 2024 at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) here on Thursday. 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 they enjoy a big gap over 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 for fourth at three under 213.
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 Sandhu recovered well by making a tricky 10-foot conversion there to salvage a bogey when it could’ve been worse for him.
This was followed by an eight-foot birdie conversion by Sandhu on the 10th that proved to be the beginning of his comeback. Sandhu then capitalised 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.
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. PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat (75) was tied 17th at three-over 219.
–IANS
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