28 December 2019: The gloves came off in spectacular fashion inside the Golmuri Golf Club in Jamshedpur. In a slugfest that resembled a bout in the ring than an excursion around a well-manicured golf course, Aman Raj (63) and N Thangaraja (66) were dealing punches at each other before the former ended the day with a one-stroke advantage. SSP Chawrasia (65), the wizard of the east, forced his way into this engaging argument with three straight birdies at the end to reach Sunday at 21-under 195, just one behind Aman Raj.
The game took a big turn at the eighth hole when a two-stroke swing enabled Aman Raj to draw even with Thangaraja. He forged ahead immediately with another birdie on the ninth, but it was perfectly even from there, as the two men posted identical scores over the second nine, with matching birdies at the 10th, 12th, 14th and 18th holes.
“The birdie and eagle on the second and fourth made me believe that it was my day. I chipped really well on both the second, where I was in a tough spot, and on the fourth and continued to chip well on the back-nine as well. After the fourth, I kept going with the flow and tried to stay in the present,” said Aman Raj.
“I’ve achieved some important goals this year by first qualifying for the Asian Tour through the Q School and then retaining my card at the end of the year by finishing 52nd in the money list. This has helped me grow in confidence and aim higher. So, I’m in a good mental space now.
“I’ve dropped just one bogey so far this week and I came close to making at least three more eagles today. So, these are good signs going into the last round,” he added.
“It’s now important for me to maintain my tempo in the last round and also putt well in order to have a shot at the title. I have to be at my best in the final round as any player on his day can shoot a nine-under or ten-under score here.”
Chawrasia was seven-under for his last ten holes including an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole. There were ten eagles made on the day including one each from Udayan Mane and Aman Raj.
“My ball-striking wasn’t really up to the mark on the front-nine. But my back-nine was far better. It’s a tight leaderboard and I believe whoever does well on the finishing stretch which has some scoring holes, has a good chance of winning,” underlining how open the contest remains at the final tournament on the PGTI calendar for 2019.
Both Aman and Thangaraja were three under through the first three holes, with the latter retaining a two-stroke advantage. Things took a turn at the bend, when Aman made birdies at eight and nine, while Thangaraja conceded a bogey on the 8th hole.
Aadil Bedi and Udayan Mane climb up the ladder
There were four rounds of 64 on Saturday. Udayan, Aadil Bedi who has been as consistent as a rock this week, Abhijit Singh Chadha and veteran Mukesh Kumar were all eight-under in the third round. While Udayan and Mukesh soared on the back of an eagle at the 10th and 2nd respectively, Abhijit and Aadil got their work done with a smattering of birdies on either stretch.
Udayan is in fourth place, closing the day at 19-under 197. Aadil is just one back from him, in the company of Chiragh Kumar, who shot a seven-under 65 in the third round.
Om Prakash Chouhan is in 7th place after threatening to set out in hot pursuit of the leaders. He made four straight birdies to open the show, but his momentum was stolen by a streak of bogeys. He made ten birdies today, but also conceded four bogeys to settle for a 66.
Rashid Khan remains in pole position to secure order of merit
Rashid Khan continued to plod away on another challenging day. He was cruising nicely after starting the day with four pars but conceded three bogeys from there to reach the bend in 39 strokes. He tried to make amends with a hat-trick of birdies from the 10th hole before another bogey threatened to steal his momentum. But he responded like a champion golfer might, producing three birdies in the last five holes to sign on a 70.
At 10-under 204, Rashid is in T15 with Angad Cheema, Abhishek Kumar, Manu Gandas and Shankar Das. Rashid remains three shots clear of his only rival for the order of merit, Chikkarangappa. The Bengaluru golfer is in T33 at 9-under with a 69 on Saturday.
Top ten spread out on day three
The top ten wears a distinctly separated look after 54 holes. They are separated by eight strokes now after jostling for space through the first two rounds. Honey Baisoya, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Mukesh are in T10 at 14-under 202. Abhijit Singh Chadha is in ninth place at 15-under, with Karandeep Kocchar a further stroke ahead in eighth place.
Abhishek Kuhar produced one of the highlights of the day when he holed out his second shot from 200 yards on the par-5 second hole for a much-celebrated Albatross.
Jeev Milkha Singh (71) and Jyoti Randhawa (72) met at T25 reaching the final round at 10-under-206. The other special invitee, Gaganjeet Bhullar had a disappointing day. he slipped to T37 from T2 when he posted a 78 on Saturday. Bhullar made three birdies but he also conceded two doubles, a triple and two other bogeys to return a bruised man.
Om Prakash Chouhan is in seventh at 17-under, just one behind the six men who seem like realistic contenders on Sunday, unless some major shakeup happens through the front nine, especially among the leaders.
