Sedate Ahlawat stays ahead at Panchkula with Malik on his tail

By a Correspondent

Veer Ahlawat kept the lead in round three of the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club despite a quiet day on the course.

The Gurgaon-based 25-year-old followed up his whirlwind 62 in round two with a sedate one-under 71 on Friday to move his tournament total to 16-under 200.

Ahlawat (67-62-71) had five birdies against four bogeys in his third round, the PGTI said.

Noida’s Amardeep Malik (71-65-66) was breathing down the leader’s neck after the penultimate round on 14-under 202 with a terrific 66 that included eight birdies and two bogeys.

Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S. (69-65-69) was third on 13-under 203 while Mysore’s Yashas Chandra (65-70-69) was fourth on 12-under 204.

Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (66) was the best-placed of the Chandigarh golfers in T5 on 11-under 205 along with Om Prakash Chouhan (66) of Mhow and M. Dharma (70) of Bangalore.

Top round

Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh had the day’s best of 7-under 65 to move 34 places into a tie for 15^th on 6-under 210. His round featured an eagle, six birdies and a bogey.  

Earlier in the day, the second round was completed by the 65 players who couldn’t finish their rounds on Thursday due to the rain and consequent delayed start.

At the end of round two, the cut was declared at 1-over 145 as 56 professionals and one amateur made it to the money rounds.

Ahlawat enjoyed a five-shot lead at 15-under 129 at the halfway stage while Chikkarangappa was second at 10-under 134.

Ahlawat had a forgettable front nine courtesy his inconsistent chipping as he claimed just two birdies and dropped three shots.

He had a far better back nine with three birdies and a bogey that helped him stay the course despite his putts not rolling in. The birdie on 16 was a 15-foot conversion.

Ahlawat, looking for his second PGTI title, said, “I had a decent round as I continued to hit it well especially off the tee.

Off day

“But it was one of those days when the putts just didn’t roll in for me, the exact opposite of what happened in round two when I converted everything on the greens.

“To make matters worse my chipping was totally off as I didn’t land it close enough to the flag to be able to make chip-putts.

“The key will be to hit maximum fairways in the final round and I feel making greens in regulation will be even more crucial. In all I hit just one bad drive today and pulled things back on the back-nine.”

Noida Golf  Course’s Malik, T5 and seven off the lead after round two, began with a two-under on the front nine but.

He then picked up pace in the second half with five birdies and a bogey to narrow the gap to the leader to two shots.  

On the go

Malik, both of whose PGTI titles have come on his home NGC course, sank a 20-footer for birdie on 15 before going on to make a good par save on 16 despite a poor tee shot.

However, he had a lip out with his 20-foot birdie putt on 18 where he had to settle for par.

Amardeep said, “I’ve been striking it well since last week. Importantly, today I didn’t let the bogey on 13 break my momentum as I finished well after that to get close to the lead.

“I know I just have to be patient and continue playing the way I have played so far.”

Ranjit Singh was the second Chandigarh player in the top-10 after Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Ranjit was T8 on 10-under 206 along with Delhi’s Rashid Khan and rookie Kartik Sharma of Gurgaon.

PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was T11 on 9-under 207.

Chandigarh’s Bishmadpal Singh Seerha, the lone amateur to make the cut, was tied 39^th at level-par 216.

Also read: Ahlawat takes Panchkula by storm with 10-under 62 blitz