By Rahul Banerji
Moving Day was anything but for Veer Ahlawat in the $1.5 million International Series Singapore on Saturday, though the rangy Indian held on to a top-10 place going into the final day.
The Gurgaon-based Ahlawat battled his way to a level-par 72 on the day that was good enough to keep him in the hunt at Tanah Merah Country Club on 10-under 206.
Shubhankar Sharma made ground on the leaders, climbing into a share of 12th place, one shot behind Ahlawat’s group.
Sharma continued to improve by the day with cards of 70, 69 and 68 that have taken him to 80-under 207, five shots off the lead.
Overnight leader Gavin Green too could only mark time on Saturday with a 72 and was joined atop the leaderboard by Thai star Phachara Khongwatmai on 14-under 202.
Steady progress
Jyoti Randhawa too has been making steady progress bringing all his experience into play and going into Sunday, finds himself in tied 20th place at 7-under 209 (73-69-67).
Randhawa’s third day card of 5-under 67 was one of the better scores on a sluggish day at the noted Singapore venue.
Indonesian Open runner-up Rashid Khan (72-69-71) continued to plug away and his 4-under tally sees him in T41 with Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-72-70).
Jakarta winner last week Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-69-72) was 2-under 214 alongside S.S.P. Chawrasia (70-72-72), while Aman Raj (72-72-73) had a level-par total of 216.
Ahlawat played steady golf through the day, swapping birdie for bogey at either end of his round while Shubhankar mixed six birdies against two dropped shots on the day.
Randhawa’s only blemish in a card that contained seven birdies was a double-bogeyed par-4 11th after having made the turn in 4-under 32. He was to pick up three more shots over the remaining seven holes.
Asiantour.com adds
Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong were a shot behind the leaders while England’s Steve Lewton came in with a 69 to sit a stroke further back.
Play was stopped at 11.10am and resumed at 1.30pm because of inclement weather.
“It was such a grind, I couldn’t get anything going,” said Green, whose birdie on eight was offset by a dropped shot on 13 – a stark contrast to his 14 birdies and no bogeys on Thursday and Friday.
Both Green and LIV Golf member Phachara are chasing their second wins on the Asian Tour, with Green having won the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in 2017, and the latter the 2021 Laguna Phuket Championship.
Nitithorn achieved the rare feat of making two eagles on par fours on the front, on three and nine.
“I know it’s unbelievable,” said the Thai, winner of the inaugural DGC Open in March.
“Didn’t expect that it’s going to be in the hole on the third, it’s a blind shot you know. I didn’t see anything, but I just knew that I hit a good shot from 168 yards.
“And I walked to the green and it’s in. So yeah, happy with that result. On hole nine I had 63 yards, it’s in that gap you know, I don’t really hit that distance well, but I hit it and it went in.”
Also read: Ahlawat charges on in Singapore as flawless Green leads
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