In-form Khalin Joshi kept his Bengaluru Open lead but saw it trimmed to three shots after 54 holes at his home course on Thursday. Image courtesy DP World PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Khalin Joshi maintained his lead but saw it cut to three shots after 54 holes of the Rs 1 crore Bengaluru Open powered by IndianOil at his home Karnataka Golf Association course on Thursday.
The 34-year-old (61-68-69), who began the day with a six-stroke advantage, eagled the par-five fifth and added three birdies against two bogeys to reach 18 under par 198 heading into the final round, the DP World PGTI said.
Manu Gandas (69-68-64), 2023 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, produced the day’s low score, a bogey-free 8 under 64 to total 15 under 201 and take second place up from third overnight.
Gurgaon’s Gandas, currently 20th in the Race to DP World India Championship, made eight birdies, including three in a row from the 10th hole.
Current rankings leader Saptak Talwar (67-70-68) of Greater Noida moved into sole third place at 11 under 205 with a 4 under 68 that featured five birdies and one bogey.
Veer Ahlawat (68-69-69) and local teenager Manoj S. (65-70-71) shared fourth place on 10 under 206.
Joshi found the third round considerably more demanding as the wind strengthened, the greens quickened, and the flag positions became more challenging.
“It was a challenging round,” Joshi said. “I didn’t strike the ball particularly well, but I held the round together and avoided playing myself out of the tournament.
“I’m still in a comfortable position and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Smart play
Joshi’s eagle on the fifth provided the highlight. After his tee shot narrowly avoided the hazard, he laid up before holing a lob wedge from 94 yards.
“I played it as a 102-yard shot into the wind because I knew there was a backstop beyond the hole,” he said. “The ball landed past the pin, spun back and went in.”
The leader later made a three-putt and dropped another shot on 15 after his drive found a plugged lie in a bunker. He limited the damage to a bogey before responding with birdies on his final two holes.
“The three-putt came from a poor first putt and a slight lapse in concentration,” Joshi said.
“On the 15th, I didn’t hit a good tee shot and was unlucky with the lie, but I made a good bogey and finished strongly with two birdies.”
The fifth hole begins a pivotal three-hole risk-reward stretch at KGA.
The par five is reachable in two but has water and trees on either side, while the sixth and seventh are long par fours, with water also coming into play on the sixth.
Stiff test
The ninth provides another demanding test as a lengthy par-four.
The short par-four 10th and downwind par-five 11th offer the best scoring opportunities, while the closing stretch is more exacting.
The tight par-four 17th features an elevated green, and the tree-lined par-five 18th is protected by well-positioned bunkers.
Wind has been a factor throughout the tournament, while rain before the event softened the fairways and reduced run from the tee.
Despite the rain, the greens have remained firm and smooth, running at 11 on the Stimpmeter following strong work by the KGA greenkeeping team.
Gandas took advantage of the putting surfaces to close the gap on Joshi, converting a lot of opportunities on the greens.
“For the past three days, I’ve been giving myself plenty of birdie chances,” Gandas said. “The difference today was that I converted more of them.
“It was a well-balanced round, and going bogey-free for the second consecutive day was particularly satisfying.”
Longer birdie putts on the second and 12th helped sustain the momentum of his charge.
“Both putts rolled exactly as I had visualised,” Gandas said. “Those conversions kept the round moving in the right direction.”
Gandas also drew confidence from his history at KGA, where he has enjoyed success during his junior career.
Good times
“I have some wonderful memories here, including a couple of victories as a junior,” he said.
“The course is in excellent condition, and I’m pleased to be in contention heading into the final round.”
Local lad Chikkarangappa S. struck a hole-in-one on hole 13 during his round of 73 to be tied 33rd at 1 over 217.
The Bengaluru Open is the final tournament before the top 60 on the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit are confirmed.
Players finishing in the top 60 at the end of this event will retain their playing rights for the 2026-27 season.
Also read: Khalin Joshi extends his lead to six shots on home KGA course
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