Sandhu in the van as Hossain rebounds at Vishwa Samudra Open

Overnight leader Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh played some tough golf to stay ahead of the field in the Vishwa Samudra Open presented by Kapil Dev at DGC on Thursday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Ajeetesh Sandhu stayed ahead of the field after round three of the Rs 2 crore Vishwa Samudra Open at Delhi Golf Club on Thursday.

The Chandigarh-based golfer shot a steady 3 under par 69 lead by two shots at the event presented by Kapil Dev with a 54-hole aggregate of 11 under 205, the PGTI said.

Day one leader Jamal Hossain of Bangladesh carded the day’s best of 67 to hold second place on 9 under 207 at an event where just 13 players are at par or better.

The finale promises to be a two-horse race between Sandhu (69-67-69) and Hossain (67-73-67, 9 under 207) heading into the final with daylight between them and the rest of the field.

M. Dharma (71) of Bangalore was a distant third on 4 under 212 while Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Sandhu (71) and Delhi’s Rashid Khan (72) shared fourth place on 3 under 213.

An international winner, Sandhu began on a positive note with a birdie on the second hole but dropped shots on holes eight and nine.

After finding the bushes and having an unplayable ball on nine, the 36-year-old Ajeetesh recovered well by making a tricky 10-foot conversion to salvage a bogey.

Sandhu followed up with an eight-foot birdie conversion on 10 that sparked a comeback. He capitalised on the remaining two par 5s, 14 and 18, with birdies and another with a short-range conversion on 15.

Steady round

Still looking for his first win at the DGC after coming close a few times in the past, Sandhu said, “I wasn’t as solid as I was in round two but still played steady.

“There were a few blips in the middle but I’m glad that I finished well. If you hit some good shots on the last few holes at DGC, there are quite a few scoring opportunities and I was able to do that.

“You will have very few spectacular days here, so you just need to keep your head down and look to score whenever you can. That’s what I did today.

“Both the 10-foot bogey conversion on nine and birdie on 10 turned out to be critical as they reset things for me. I have family with me here this week. So that’s a nice and calming feeling for me on a tough golf course like this.”

Hossain, winner of the PGTI’s previous event in Assam last month, bounced back into contention with a 67 after being four shots off the lead in third position at the halfway stage.

The Dhaka star’s controlled ball-striking earned him birdies on three of the four par-5s. He had three more birdies on his card other than a lone bogey.

Past Indian Open champion S.S.P. Chawrasia (73) was tied eighth on level par 216 while Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat (75) shared 17^th place on 3 over 219.

Also read: Ajeetesh Sandhu holds day two lead as Thakran aces at DGC