04 July, 2014: In April this year, the bunker’s protecting the course in Coimbatore denied Om PrakashChouhan in a tense play-off against K Prabagaran. It appears the golfer from Mhow has become wiser from the bitter experience. Chouhan put some distance between himself and the rest on Friday, with a brilliant 65 to earn a two shot lead over the field.
An eagle at the 12th and four other birdies cushioned his card as he took command of the PGTI Pahalgam Masters with 16-under 194.Prabagaran had the best round of the day – a spotless 63 that included five birdies and an eagle, also on the 12th hole. The Lankan and AshbeerSaini (66) were T2, two strokes behind the leader.
[highlight] Prabagaran had the best round of the day – a spotless 63 that included five birdies and an eagle, also on the 12th hole. The Lankan and AshbeerSaini (66) were T2 [/highlight]
Arshdeep Tiwana appeared to be the man in charge at one stage, before the course extracted its due and dropped him back to T4. Tiwana looked to be racing ahead, after an eagle at the 8th and consecutive birdies on 11 & 12, but bogeys at 14 and 15 set him back.
The only blemish on Chouhan’s card came on the 17th as he settled for a bogey at the penultimate hole. The 27 year old had to settle for top-40 finishes at his last two events after his adventure in Coimbatore, but looks set for a better finish in Pahalgam.
AshbeerSaini has been a picture of consistency this week. After making 65 in the first two rounds, Saini was derailed by bogeys at the 5th and 7th, but recovered his composure to make a string of birdies and a brilliant eagle at the 14th to stay in contention for Saturday honours.
Mukesh Kumar nearly emulated PawanVerma’s 62 from the first round, but a bogey at the 7th hole meant he had to be content with 63, the best for the day with Prabagaran. Verma got off to a rousing start, but has done precious little after that.
A second straight 70 left him 8 off the pace, T20 with Lankan N Thangarajaand Aussie Kunal Bhasin.JyotiRandhawa is also down the pecking order – a double bogey at the 11th and bogey on 16 took the sheen off his six birdies, as he settled in T6 four strokes off the leader.
Reporting by Anand Datla
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