Akshay Sharma retains Coimbatore Open round three lead

Overnight leader Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh tees off on the 12^th hole on day three of the Rs 1 crore Coimbatore Open on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Akshay Sharma shrugged off three early bogeys to card a 1 under par 71 and retain his lead in round three of the Rs 1 crore KGiSL presents Coimbatore Open on Friday.

Chandigarh’s Sharma (69-65-71), who led by two shots at the halfway stage, now enjoys a one-shot lead on 11 under 205 at the Coimbatore Golf Club, the PGTI said.

Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya kept himself in the hunt with a 67 that saw him tied for second at 10-under 206 alongside Dubai-based rookie Rayhan Thomas (69), playing his first event on the PGTI this week.

Italy’s Michele Ortolani (67) and Yashas Chandra (69) of Mysore were a further shot behind in tied fourth on a tight leaderboard.

Two-time PGTI winner Sharma weathered the windy conditions well on the day.

The 33-year-old, who has come close to winning on several occasions in the last two seasons, made a good start with an early birdie thanks to an exceptional approach shot.

He then dropped shots on the fifth, seventh and eighth holes where he made a wrong club choice, a poor chip and a missed short putt respectively.

Strong comeback

However, Akshay put all that behind him to make a terrific comeback on the back nine where he picked up three birdies from a range of six to 15 feet.

Sharma, keen to break a four-year victory drought, said, “On the front nine, I played quite aggressively and made a couple of errors that also led to a few missed greens. The errors kept playing on my mind and led to a loss of momentum.

“But on the back nine, I calmed myself down and was determined to find more greens. I ended up hitting eight greens on the back nine and that brought me back in the game.

“In the final round, I’ll look to give it my best by staying calm and trying to make maximum greens in regulation. If I can play well on the first five holes, I feel I will have a good chance of winning.”

Baisoya’s round was highlighted by a couple of 20-foot conversions including one for eagle on hole 13 and some excellent chip-putts that helped him climb six places on the leaderboard.

Sachin (70-69-67), who changed his pitching wedge at the start of the day, credited his good performance on Friday to his outstanding chipping.

Thomas (70-67-69), playing at Coimbatore for the first time, mixed four birdies and a bogey during his 69 that pushed him up one spot from his overnight tied third.

The 24-year-old from Dubai made a 50-foot birdie conversion on 11 and missed out on tying for the lead after his other 50-footer for birdie lipped out on 18.

Also read: Akshay Sharma pulls ahead after round two of Coimbatore Open