Honey Baisoya extends lead on day three of Bengal Open

By Rahul Banerji

Honey Baisoya could not match his scores of 64 from the first two rounds but the 22-year-old battled his way to a 5-under 65 to extend his lead at the inaugural Bengal Open presented by West Bengal Tourism at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata on Thursday.

In Honey’s own words it was still his most satisfying effort of the week and helped extend his lead to two shots on 17-under 193 going into the final day of the Rs 30 lakh event, the fourth of the 2019 Tata Steel PGTI season.

Baisoya (64-64-65) is being closely tracked by Bangladesh’s Badal Hossain (63-66-66), who moved from his overnight tied second to sole second on a total of 15-under-195.

His compatriot Md Zamal Hossain Mollah also made a move by matching the tournament’s best round of 62, shot by first round leader Karan Pratap Singh of Faridabad on Tuesday to rise from tied 39^th to 12^th on 11-under-199.

Good recoveries

Honey made a positive start on the day with an early birdie his hitting form of the first two days went AWOL as he kept missing fairways. He had one double-bogey but came back well with some with three gained shots thanks to some quality approach play and putting.

The six-time winner on the PGTI made a couple of good recoveries from the trees before finally ending the day on a high with three more birdies after landing his wedge shots within five feet on all three occasions.

Honey said later, “I really struggled with my hitting for a major part of the round. I found only two fairways on the first 13 holes and that stat in itself says a lot. But my approach shots and putting kept me in the game as I made some tremendous recoveries on the third, fifth, ninth and 13^th.

“After scrambling for most part of the day, I made up by playing four-under in the last six holes.

‘Most satisfying’

“This has to be the most satisfying round of the tournament for me as I could’ve easily finished with a two or three over today but still managed to post a 65. This round comes as a huge confidence-builder ahead of the final day. However, my hitting has to be better if I want to have a shot at the title,” Honey added.

Hossain struck a second straight 66 with seven birdies and three bogeys to stay in the hunt for a maiden PGTI title. He made six birdie conversions from a range of 10 feet but had a disappointing three-putt bogey on the 17^th that pushed him two shots behind the leader.

Rashid’s run ends

Delhi’s Rashid Khan, the winner in Chittagong last week, started well with birdies on the first three holes but his second nine had two birdies and two bogeys for an overall 67 and a share of third place on 14-under-196. It was the first time in 102 holes of tournament play that Rashid had dropped a shot, a stat he was to point out on Twitter himself later

Pune-based Udayan Mane hit a 64 to climb eight places and join Rashid in third while Shankar Das (64) was the highest-placed Kolkata golfer in tied fifth alongside Karan Pratap (68) on 13-under-197.

Family affair

Local lad Sunit Chowrasia (68) outscored his famous uncle S.S.P. Chawrasia (69) as they played in the same group for the first time in a professional event. Sunit closed the day in tied 17^th at 8-under-202 while SSP was a further shot back in tied 23^rd.

Bengaluru-based Rahil Gangjee, originally from Kolkata, returned a 71 to be tied 29^th at six-under-204.

Ridhima goes sub-par again to keep lead

In Greater Noida, Ridhima Dilawari shot a second successive under-par round to open a four-shot lead on day two of the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Jaypee Greens on Thursday.

Ridhima, who has one win this season, carded a 1-under 71 to get to 7-under 137, the lowest two-round aggregate this season.

She now leads by four over amateur Anika Varma, who shot a second straight 71 to reach 3-under 141 and stay two clear of the third placed Gaurika Bishnoi (73).

Siddhi Kapoor (72), Anisha Padukone (76) and Amandeep Drall (75) trailed in that order while Ananya Datar (75) and amateur Asmitha Sathish (82) were T7. Asmitha, who had a 68 on the first day, carded an 82 on the second day as she lapsed into a series of errors including a triple bogey and a double bogey.

Amateur Nayanika Sanga (76) and Afshan Fatima (78) complete the top 10.

Experienced Gursimar Badwal (81-73) and Neha Tripathi (77-77) were way back in T12 , and Smriti Mehra (83-76) was 20th.

Solid feats

Ridhima won twice in 2018, but one of the wins was as an amateur. She added a third Hero WPGT win at the fourth leg this season. In the first round, Ridhima recorded the season’s best round on a par 72 course. At six-under 66, she bettered Neha’s effort of five-under 66 in the second round of the first leg on the par-71 Poona Club Golf Course.

On the day, Jakarta Asiad participant Ridhima had two birdies against as many bogeys to make the turn in level par. She picked up two shots but gave one back to finish on a 71.

Amateur Anika Varma was five-under and bogey free when she arrived at the 15^th tee. She then dropped three shots in four holes to end the round four behind the leader.

Also read: Rashid Khan roasts the field with record Chittagong Open win