Late rally by Chouhan carries him into tied second at KGA

By Rahul Banerji

Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise may lead the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge but it was Om Prakash Chouhan who was the talking point in Bangalore on Saturday.

The 36-year-old rallied late on day three at the KGA with an eagle, five birdies and a double bogey to climb into a four-way tie for second place at the $300,000 event.

At the top, Scalise shot the third day’s best of seven-under 65 to take a two-shot lead at 15-under 201, the PGTI said.

On 13-under 203, Chouhan (66) shared second place alongside Spain’s Victor Pastor (67), England’s Ashley Chesters (68) and Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg (69).

Aman Raj (71) was the second Indian in the top-10, T9 on 10-under 206 at the event co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour and PGTI.

Scalise (68-68-65), on his first trip to India, has posted only one bogey in his last 54 holes.

The 27-year-old from Monza, currently tenth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, was pleased with every part of his game as he went error-free on the day.

Bogey-free

“I hit it great off the tee and put myself into some great positions,” Scalise said later. “My putting was very good, and I only left myself short-sided once.

“I’ve started the season well and my aim is to be in contention every week because you have to play consistently throughout the year if you want to finish in the top 20 and get your DP World Tour card.”

Chouhan (70-67-66), a seven-time winner on the PGTI, had a quiet start with just one birdie on the front nine.

The Mhow-based golfer, who had a top-six finish at last week’s DGC Open, then began to gather steam with birdie-eagle on 10 and 11, making a 16-foot conversion on the latter.

Chouhan then stumbled with a double bogey on 12 where he found the hazard.

‘OP’ as he is known, then came up with a fantastic late run with long-distance birdie putts on holes 14, 16, 17 and 18.

Chouhan said, “After a good start, the double-bogey on 12 was quite disappointing but fortunately I didn’t let that affect my game.

Strong finish

“I was pleased with the very strong finish. I’ve been working on the mental aspect of my game as errors on the course used to affect me a lot in the past.

“But I’m in a much better mental space now to handle such situations.

“My driving and iron shots are my strength at the moment but I know once the putts start rolling in for me I can even shoot a round of eight-under.

“Importantly, I’ve begun the year with some good results, three top-10s out of four starts, which has given me a lot of confidence.”

Aman Raj (67-68-71) mixed five birdies with four bogeys in his round of 71 to slip six spots to tied ninth.

India’s Aryan Roopa Anand (72) was tied 17^th on eight-under 208.

Udayan Mane (72) was tied 43^rd on five-under 211 and Khalin Joshi (74) was T61 at one-under 215.

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