Chandigarh, Nov 13 (Golf news) Experienced golfer Shiv Kapur turned in five-under 67 to grab a slender one-shot advantage in a packed leaderboard after the third and penultimate round of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational here on Saturday.
Kapur (64-68-67), a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, was 17-under 199 after three days in the Rs. 1.5 crore event Presented by TAKE Sports.
The Dubai-based golfer, one of the pre-tournament favourites, built on his solid previous rounds to be the leader for the third day running at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
Aadil Bedi (68-65-67), a winner on the PGTI in early 2020, kept local hopes alive as he went error-free for the second straight day during his 67 to move up one spot to second position at 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 his 69.
Delhi's Kshitij Naveed Kaul (69) occupied fourth place at 13-under 203.
Gurugram-based Dhruv Sheoran carded the day's best score of eight-under 64 to climb 10 places to tied fifth at 12-under 204. Olympian Udayan Mane (67) was also tied for fifth along with Sheoran.
The 39-year-old Kapur, looking for his first title on the PGTI, had a brisk start as he made four birdies on the first eight holes which included three conversions from a range of 10 to 25 feet.
Kapur, who was bogey-free through his first 44 holes of the tournament, then hit a rough patch dropping three bogeys 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, originally hailing from Delhi, rallied with three birdies thereafter as his accurate wedge shots set up short birdie putts on the 13th, 16th and 17th that gave him the sole lead for the first time this week.
"Heading into round four, I'll look to continue doing what I've done since the start of the event," Kapur said.
"The focus will be on keeping it in play, giving myself opportunities and making those crucial putts to keep the momentum going." Aadil Bedi carded five birdies and the ones that stood out were his 40-feet conversion on the ninth and his chip-in from the bunker on the 13th. He has so far dropped just one double-bogey in the tournament and there are no bogeys on his card.
Rashid made gains with two birdies on the first 10 holes followed by an eagle on the 13th. He conceded a bogey on the 16th but came back with a superb recovery from the trees to salvage a par on the 17th and keep himself in contention.
Besides Bedi, there were three other Chandigarh professionals in the top-10 as Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Abhijit Singh Chadha were tied seventh at 11-under 205, while defending champion Karandeep Kochhar climbed 12 spots to tied ninth at nine-under 207 after his round of 65.
Among the other marquee names in the field, former champion Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh and SSP Chawrasia were both in tied 11th at eight-under 208 while Jyoti Randhawa was another three shots back in tied 18th.
Former champion Chikkarangappa of Bengaluru was tied 23rd at four-under 212. Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied 34th at two-under 214.
The two amateurs to make the cut, US-based Varun Chopra (three-under 213) and Aryan Roopa Anand (even-par 216) of Bengaluru, were placed tied 26th and tied 49th respectively.
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News Source : PTI
