Joint leader Gaganjeet Bhullar in action during round three of the Jakarta International Championship at Damai Indah Golf’s PIK Course on Saturday. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Gaganjeet Bhullar was in a three-way tie for the lead after 54 holes of the $2 million Jakarta International Championship at Damai Indah Golf’s PIK Course on Saturday.
A five-time winner in Indonesia, Bhullar went 1 under par 69 to total 11 under 199 alongside Wade Ormsby of Australia (67) and Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe (62), who returned a brilliant 8 under 62 on the day
Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana (64) and Poom Saksansin (66), were fourth on 10 under with compatriot Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Steve Lewton of England, Stefano Mazzoli of Italy a further stroke behind on 9 under 201.
Bhullar, the 2023 BNI Indonesian Masters champion, was left to rue a costly mistake on nine, when he double bogeyed the hole despite sitting middle of the fairway after another perfect drive.
“I just made one mistake on number nine. I drove the ball in the middle of the fairway,” Bhullar, who had previous rounds of 65 and 65, said.
“From there, I was talking to my caddy, whether it is a full eight or a nine, but anyways, I went ahead with eight.
Going over
“It pitched on the back edge and just rolled over. From there, I ended up making a double bogey. That was that was one blemish of the day.
“But other than that, I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities. I hit 12 out of 14 fairways today, and 14 from 14 the last two rounds, so I drove the ball well, hit the ball well.
“The ball was right there, I was hitting it close enough to convert into birdies. The conditions were tougher than the last two rounds.
“It was windy, especially on the back nine, where we faced a lot of headwind left to right. Because of that, we had to change our strategy.
“Otherwise, the third round is Moving Day and I am still in the hunt. I am going to work on my putting right now. I will just try and roll with a better momentum, especially the 30-footer, 40-footers. So the job is one shot at a time, that is all I can do.”
Chikkarangappa S. and Viraj Madappa were well down the order as eight other Indians in the field failed to make the Friday cut at 2 under.
Japan’s Kazuki Higa is still in with a chance of a spectacular hat-trick of consecutive victories on the Asian Tour after a three-under round of 67 on day three left him just four off the leaders.
Higa won the 41st Shinhan Donghae Open and the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in a spectacular September fortnight.
Hat-trick opportunity
He is in with a chance of a third straight victory – a first for the Asian Tour with just 18 holes left to play.
The International Rankings earns a place on the LIV Golf League. Vincent did just that during the inaugural International Series season in 2022, and after another fine round, is edging closer to a return to the multi-million dollar franchise.
“It was amazing, what a blessing,” said Vincent who registered eight birdies on the day, including three in a row from the first hole and then again from the 12th.
“When you know you have a picture of what you’re trying yo do , today I was able to execute that more times than I have the whole week.
“So its always fun wj]hen you can kind of see the oicture and pull it off. Was just able to do that a few more times today.”
The 33-year-old won the International Series Morocco in July and was runner-up at the Shinhan Donghae Open and is second on both the Asian Tour and International Series Order of Merit.
The tournament is the fifth of nine on The International Series, the elevated events which provide a pathway onto the LIV Golf League via the season-long rankings race.
Also read: Bhullar heads 11-strong Indian contingent at Jakarta International
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