Angad Cheema continued to stay well and truly in the hunt to end his 11-year wait for a PGTI title after three days of the Vizag Open at East Point Golf Club on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Angad Cheema overcame a couple of hiccups in round three to stay ahead of the field in the Rs 1 crore Vizag Open at East Point Golf Club in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Leading by four shots overnight, Cheema (69-61-70) had a rock-solid penultimate round barring a setback on the final hole as he posted a 1 under par 70 to hold a three-shot advantage on 13 under 200.
Patna-based Aman Raj (66-68-69) put together a 2 under 69 to stay in second place on 10 under 203, the PGTI said.
Gurgaon’s Kartik Sharma had the day’s best card of 7 under 64 to be tied third along with Noida’s Amardeep Malik (65) and Yashas Chandra M.S. (68) of Mysore.
Cheema, fourth on the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking with six top-10 finishes in the season, started well with birdies on the first two par-5 holes, the first and seventh, thanks to excellent approach work.
The Chandigarh golfer, searching for his second PGTI title after his last win 11 years ago, then had a minor hiccup with his lone bogey after a couple of errant shots.
The 34-year-old thereafter rallied with two terrific iron shots to leave himself short birdie conversions on holes 11 and 15.
Late stumble
Cheema enjoyed an impressive six-shot lead heading into the final hole. However, a tough lie in the hazard on the 18th led to a double-bogey with his lead reduced to three shots.
Cheema said, “I was playing well already, so today I just wanted to repeat what I did earlier in the week. I hit my irons and wedges well and that set up most of my birdies today.
“Struggled a bit with my tee shots today and that’s where I’ll look to improve in round four.
“The key in the final round will be to keep it in play on every hole and hit as many greens as possible because the whole golf course is challenging.”
Aman Raj continued in sole second place after making four birdies and a double-bogey on Friday that kept him in the hunt for his fifth title.
Sharma made an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys in his round of 64, the day’s lowest score.
Defending champion N. Thangaraja (66) of Sri Lanka was tied seventh on 7 under 206.
Also read: Cheema cards a personal best round to lead Vizag Open field
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