By Rahul Banerji
Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Honey Baisoya all joined the race for podium places in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open at Namseoul Country Club on Saturday.
Early leader Bio Kim may have put space between himself and the chasing pack, but the three Indians were all within striking distance of solid placings going into the final day in Korea.
Kim shot a 3-under par 68 to open a four-shot advantage on 10-under overall on countrymen Minjun Kim, Mingyu Cho and Jiho Yang in the Asian Tour’s first event in Korea since 2019.
Sharing fifth place were Joshi and Madappa on 5-under 208s while Baisoya was sole seventh on 4-under 209.
Kim so far has rounds of 67, 68 ad 68 after starting the day in a share of the lead but pulled ahead with a second successive 3-under 68 that contained seven birdies, two bogies and one double.
Making progress
Joshi (68-71-69) and Baisoya (72-71-66) were the big gainers on the day while Madappa (71-75-72) more or less held station in the top five.
Baisoya’s 66 was in fact the joint low round of the day at the Namseoul Country Club.
“Game is feeling good, so looking forward to tomorrow,” said Joshi on the Asian Tour website.
“I haven’t played in front of a gallery like this in a while, so I’m really excited.
“Today was good fun playing with two local boys, and the support we had was pretty good.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen crowds. And for me personally, I haven’t been in contention in a while, so it’s good.
“It’s getting me charged for sure, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Swirling wind
Said Madappa, who went one over on the day: “It was a little erratic today, I feel like the wind was swirling a little bit.
“I started off really well. The front nine I played good honestly, tee to green was really solid and I made a few putts. I put myself in good places on the front nine and on the back nine…
“Just when the wind started swirling I made a few bad decisions off the tee. Misjudged some of the wind and put myself in tough spots.”
Both Joshi and Madappa are past winners on the Asian Tour.
Further down the order, Veer Ahlawat (71-71-74, 3-over 216) was tied 42nd along with Chikkarangappa S. (73-71-72).
Karandeep Kochhar (70-75-73) was T52 and Gaganjeet Bhullar (70-74-75) was shared 59th to complete the list of Indians who made the Friday cut.
Also read: Ace in hand, Viraj Madappa sits one off Maekyung Open lead
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