Angad Cheema on the move at QA InfoTech Open, Jeev is tied 21st

By Rahul Banerji

Angad Cheema shrugged off the putting blues in round three of the QA InfoTech Open 2018 with a three-under-69 for a two-shot lead at the Noida Golf Course on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in Incheon, South Korea, Gaganjeet Bhullar returned a four-under 67 round to share second place on the opening day of the $1 million 34th Shinhan Donghae Open.

At the NGC, Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma was second at four-under-212 also with a 69 on day three of the Rs. 50 lakh event, two behind Cheema who is on six-under-210

Tour veteran Jeev Milkha Singh closed the day in tied 21st with a total of two-over-218. He had a one-over-73 in round three.

Cheema (71-70-69), one of only two players to go under oar in all three rounds, went from overnight tied third to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday.

With his 69, Cheema put behind the disappointment of two dropped shots in the last four holes in round two. The 28-year-old had five birdies and two bogeys on the day.

Cheema sank two long birdie putts before dropping a shot. The lanky golfer, who had an Asian Tour card in 2015, had a better back nine with two four-footers and a tap-in, all of which he converted for birdies.

Cheema, currently 39th in the PGTI Order of Merit, said, “I’ve played well on all three days and kept myself out of trouble.

“My ball-striking has been great and putting has been consistent in the last two days. That par save from 25 feet on the 15th today really lifted my confidence.

“The greens are rolling better with each passing day and I’ll just look to repeat the same performance on day four. The key will be to keep the ball in play throughout.

Akshay Sharma (73-70-69) climbed seven places to second thanks to a 69 on Thursday. Akshay, who has four top-10s this year, produced four birdies and a bogey and 15 greens in regulation in the third round to move into contention.

Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh fired a third straight 71 to become only the second player other than Cheema to register three under-par scores in the tournament. He moved up to tied third at three-under-213.

Second round leaders Arjun Prasad of Delhi and Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka dropped to tied third as both shot 73s on Thursday.

Gurgaon-based Ankur Chadha signed for a 68, the tournament’s best round so far, to be tied 16th at one-over-217.

Gagan on the move

At Incheon, Bhullar carried on his solid summer form with a 4-under 67 for a share of second place on day one of 34th Shinhan Donghae Open on Thursday.

Bhullar, who has five Top-10s in his last seven starts, is two shots behind Korea’s Sanghyun Park (65) at the $1,000,000 event.

Bhullar, who won the 2016 edition here, was the best placed Indian in the field.

Rashid Khan (68) was T9, Viraj Madappa, winner of the Take Solutions last month in Bangalore, was T28 while Ajeetesh Sandhu (71) and Arjun Atwal (71) were tied 41^st. Shiv Kapur, Jyoti Randhawa and S. Chikkarangappa all had 72s for T67, while Khalin Joshi (70) was T90.

Bhullar won his ninth Asian Tour title last month at the Fiji International and is now joint fourth on Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Order of Merit.

Gaurika takes the lead

At the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, Gaurika Bishnoi finally found form with five birdies in the second round of the 14^th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour on Thursday.

Gaurika, still looking for her first win this season, shot a 2-over 74 with a bogey-bogey finish on the testing Gary Player layout.

Gaurika is now 7-over 151 and leads her closest rival, young Khushi Khanijau (71) by two shots.

Khushi, who finished second in the 11^th Leg at Hyderabad in August, carded the first sub-par round of the week, a 1-under 71 which also included five birdies.

Afshan Fatima, winner last week at Greater Noida, shot 76 and at 154, she was third and one ahead of Neha Tripathi, who made a nine-shot improvement with a 73 after an 82 in the first round. At 155 she is fourth.

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