By Rahul Banerji
The Gujarat Open is headed for a fascinating finish with a three-way tie for the lead between M. Dharma, Ranjit Singh and Kapil Kumar on 10-under par 206 at the Kalhaar course in Ahmedabad.
Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh golfer and Delhi’s Arjun Prasad were two strokes adrift of the joint leaders in tied fourth place at the Rs. 40 lakh event.
Bangalore’s Dharma (72-69-65) struck the day’s best score of 7-under 65 to gain 12 places on the leaderboard, the PGTI said.
Dharma’s putter was on fire early on as he sank some long putts to pick up an eagle and five birdies on the first 10 holes.
Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, then endured a tough stretch when he double-bogeyed after finding the hazard and missed a short birdie putt.
However, he regained his touch with two birdies on the final four holes.
“I’ve been extremely consistent from the back half of the previous season,” Dharma said later.
“Even though I suffered a ligament strain in my left thumb late last year, I continued to play well. Now that I have almost recovered from my injury, I’m looking to carry forward the momentum this year.
“As for the final round, I’ll just look to repeat what I did today.”
On the hunt
Seasoned Chandigarh golfer Ranjit Singh (70-68-68), looking for his first title, moved up three places with a second successive 68 on Thursday.
Ranjit had a quiet front nine with a birdie and a bogey but made a move on the back nine with five birdies and a bogey.
He capped his round with an outstanding approach on 18 that landed within a couple of feet of the flag.
Ranjit said, “My game picked up from the second half of the season last year after I changed my irons.
“I’ve shot good scores in all events since then. Today again my iron-play was terrific. The key in the final round would be to play well on the toughest stretch of the course which lies between the 12th and the 15th.”
Delhi’s Kapil Kumar (68-67-71), who was overnight second and two off the lead, kept himself in the hunt for his maiden title with a 71 riding on his good driving and putting form.
Kapil’s three birdies included some quality chip-putts. He also dropped two bogeys.
“I was struggling for form last year. But I changed my putter before this event and that has led to my better performance on the greens,” Kapil said,
Clear focus
“With my putting clicking, the focus will be on making maximum regulations in the final round in order to create scoring opportunities.”
Kochhar (64-75-69) came back into contention with a 69 on day three.
Arjun Prasad (73-65-70) carded a 70 on Thursday to continue in tied fourth place at eight-under 208.
Round two leader Tapy Ghai of Delhi shot a 76 to drop to tied sixth place on 7-under 209.
Among the Gujarat-based golfers, Anshul Patel (73-70-72) was the highest-placed at T18 on 1-under 215.
Varun Parikh (1-over 217) and Shravan Desai (8-over 224) were T23 and T37 respectively.
Also read: Gurgaon pro Tapy Ghai muscles into Gujarat Open halfway lead
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