By Rahul Banerji
Om Prakash Chouhan, Aman Raj and Sachin Baisoya were atop the leaderboard after round three of the IndianOil Servo Masters at Digboi on Friday.
The top three in the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking were almost in that order after 54 holes of the Rs 80 lakh event with Ahmedabad-based Chouhan holding a two-shot lead on 14-under 202.
Patna’s Aman Raj shot the day’s best of 66 to gain six places and move into tied second on 12-under 204 along with Baisoya who had a 69 on the day, the PGTI said.
Earlier in the day, round two which was suspended due to fading light on Thursday, was completed with the cut falling at level-par 144. In all, 51 professionals and one amateur made it to the final 36 holes.
Chouhan, Baisoya and Sukra Bahadur Rai of Nepal were the halfway leaders on 9-under 135 as round three got underway.
Merit list leader Chouhan (67-68-67), a two-time winner on the PGTI this season, was off to a terrific start in round three as he collected four birdies on the front nine with some standout chipping and putting.
Mixed bag
The 37-year-old, now based at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens course in Ahmedabad, then had a mixed back nine with two bogeys but also managed a 25-foot eagle conversion and another birdie to keep himself ahead of the pack.
Chouhan said, “My driving form has been great after I recently changed my driver. I found most of the fairways today and that set up the chances for me. My chipping and putting were also outstanding today. I narrowly missed two chip-ins today.
“The 15th hole is turning out to be my favourite as I made eagle there for the second day in succession. I also had a birdie on the 15th during round one. Importantly, I targeted a score of four to five under today and achieved it.
“It’s been good fun playing with my close friend Sachin in the leader group. I look forward to playing alongside him in the last group once again during the final round.
“With us in the same group, the atmosphere is quite relaxed as we often indulge in banter and that keeps us both in a good mental space.”
Early blip
Aman Raj (69-69-66), a winner on the PGTI a couple of months back, had an early double bogey when he found the hazard on the third hole.
However, he turned around his day with eight birdies thereafter as he didn’t leave himself anything longer than 10 feet on the greens.
Aman said, “I wore new shoes today and felt quite uncomfortable with the socks I had on. After I changed them on the fourth hole, I felt quite settled and was back in the groove.”
Baisoya (66-69-69), another two-time winner on the tour this year, mixed an eagle and four birdies with three bogeys for his 69 that kept him in the hunt.
Delhi’s Kapil Kumar (69) was fourth on 11-under 205.
Noida-based teenager Aarav D. Shah (70), the only amateur to make the cut, ended the day in tied 32nd on 2-under 214.
The two Digboi-based professionals who made the cut, Deven Bhumij (1-under 215) and Dulal Kalowar (216) were T39 and T41 respectively.
Also read: Three-way tie for day 2 clubhouse lead at Servo Masters in Digboi
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