By Rahul Banerji
Manu Gandas shot a resolute five-under-par 67 on Moving Day to regain the advantage at the inaugural Rs 1 crore Vooty Masters in Vikarabad near Hyderabad on Saturday.
With a day to go, Gurgaon’s Gandas (63-68-67) led the Dream Valley Group presented event at Vooty Golf County by one shot from Angad Cheema of Chandigarh, the PGTI said.
On 18-under 198, day one leader Gandas is within touching distance of a record-equalling fifth PGTI title of the season to match Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (2022), Gaganjeet Bhullar (2009) and Ashok Kumar (2006-07).
Sandhu and Gandas are first and second on the PGTI’s Order of Merit. A win on Sunday will see the latter take over at the top of the rankings.
Cheema (65-67-67), third overnight moved into second place on 17-under 199 after an equally impressive 67 on Saturday.
Second-round leader Om Prakash Chouhan (66-63-73) of Mhow had a sedate 73 to drop into third place on 14-under 202.
Steady golf
The 26-year-old Gandas, who set the course record of 63 on day one, had a steady front nine with three birdies and a bogey.
The birdies included an up and down from the bunker and from a drive that found the green, the second day running he had done so.
Gandas, who has five career titles on the PGTI, then collected four birdies and a bogey on the back nine, converting all four par-5s into birdies.
He left himself a four-footer on 13 and drove past the green on the par-4 15th for the two other birdies on the way back. Gandas closed the round with an 18-foot conversion for a tremendous par save.
“My driving and tee shots were the best part of my game today,” Gandas said later.
“I drove two par-4 greens today and took advantage of all the par-5s. I would say my iron-play was not up to the mark and I made some errors that could’ve been easily avoided.
“After an ordinary front nine, I had a far more encouraging back nine. It’s now about taking it one shot at a time and not looking too far ahead on the final day.”
Cheema, currently 24th on the Tata Steel PGTI Rankings with three top-10s this season, stayed in the hunt with seven birdies and two bogeys on the day.
Exceptional display
Angad, who picked up five of his birdies on the back nine, made some exceptional chip putts during round three.
Cheema, whose only win on the PGTI came in his rookie season back in 2013, said, “It was not one of my best days but I’m glad that I still managed to keep myself in contention.
“I got some momentum on the back nine today which I will look to carry forward into the final round.”
Delhi’s Harshjeet Singh Sethie (68) and Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh (69) were tied for fourth on 13-under 203.
Former Order of Merit leader Ajeetesh Sandhu (70) was tied 18th at seven under 209.
Rankings leader Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (73), was tied 29th on five-under 211.
Fifteen-year-old Noida-based amateur Aarav D. Shah (69) was tied 33rd on four-under 212.
Also read: Chouhan matches course record to grab Vooty Masters lead
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