By Rahul Banerji
Shiv Kapur held on to a slim oner-shot edge heading into the final day of the Rs. 1.5 crore Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2021 presented by TAKE Sports at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday.
In apacked leaderboard with multiple contenders in the running, Kapur was on 17-under 199, having led the event from the start, the PGTI said.
The Dubai-based Kapur (64-68-67), a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, built on his previous rounds with a determined 5-under 67 on Saturday.
Chandigarh’s Aadil Bedi (68-65-67), a winner on the PGTI in early 2020, kept local hopes alive with an error-free round for the second straight day to move up one spot to second on 16-under 200.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (65-67-69), a two-time Asian Tour winner, slipped out of the overnight joint lead and dropped to third place at 15-under 201 following a 69.
Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul (69) occupied fourth place at 13-under 203.
Gurgaon-based Dhruv Sheoran carded the day’s best score of 8-under 64 to sit tied fifth on 12-under 204. Tokyo Olympian Udayan Mane (67) was alongside Sheoran.
Kapur, 39 and looking for his first title on the PGTI, started briskly with four birdies on the first eight holes that included three conversions from between 10 and 25 feet.
Rough patch
Shiv, bogey-free through his first 44 holes of the tournament, then hit a rough patch dropping three shots in exchange for a lone birdie between the ninth and 12th holes.
He missed a couple of par putts on that stretch including a two-footer on the 12th.
Kapur rallied with three birdies with accurate wedge shots to set up short birdie putts on 13, 16 and 17 for the sole lead for the first time this week.
Shiv said, “I had a fantastic start and didn’t put a foot wrong till the eighth.
“Thereafter, I had a bad stretch where I didn’t really hit any bad shots but just made one or two mental errors and maybe had one bad break here or there.
“I went error-free for two days but made my mistakes in bunches today. However, I’m proud that I bounced back from there with some birdies at the end to put myself in contention once again.
“Heading into round four, I’ll look to continue doing what I’ve done since the start of the event.
“The focus will be on keeping it in play, giving myself opportunities and making those crucial putts to keep the momentum going.”
Long putt
Among Bedi’s five birdies was a 40-foot conversion on the ninth and a chip-in from the bunker on 13. Bedi has so far dropped just one double-bogey in the tournament and there are no bogeys on his card.
“My hitting was great in round two and I didn’t need to save any pars,” Bedi said.
“But today my short game was better and that helped me get through the day without a bogey.
“The three good rounds this week have helped lift my confidence after my recovery from my wrist injury,” said Aadil, who will soon be playing on the Asian Tour as he has a country spot there.
Rashid Khan made gains with two birdies on the first 10 holes followed by an eagle on 13.
He conceded a shot on 16 but came back with a superb recovery from the trees to salvage par on 17 and stay in contention.
There were three other Chandigarh professionals in the top-10 as Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Abhijit Singh Chadha were tied seventh on 11-under 205.
Defending champion and PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar climbed 12 spots to T9 on 9-under 207 after his round of 65.
Former champion Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh and S.S.P. Chawrasia were both in tied 11th on 8-under 208 while Jyoti Randhawa was another three shots back in tied 18th.
Former winner Chikkarangappa S. of Bangalore was tied 23rd on 4-under 212. Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied 34th on 2-under 214.
The two amateurs to make the cut, US-based Varun Chopra (3-under 213) and Aryan Roopa Anand (level-par 216) of Bangalore, were T26 and T49 respectively.
Also read: Tie at the top as Kapur, Rashid share Day 2 lead at Jeev Invitational
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