Jyothi Randhawa jumps inside T20

Jyothi Randhawa shot a second straight 65 to bolster his chances of a strong finish at the Omega European Masters.

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Jyothi Randhawa

 

Report by Anand Datla

 

September 6, 2014: It was a good Saturday for India’s golfers at the Omega European Masters. Jyothi Randhawa shot a second straight 65 to leap inside the top 20 at the Swiss resort town of Crans MontanaAnirban Lahiri scored a 68 to remain inside the top 40, while Rahil Gangjee slipped 13 spots to settle in T77 after scoring a 71 in the third round. Brooks Koepka was leading the charge at 16 under through 16 holes. Overnight leader Richie Ramsay was suffering a poor day after slipping to one over through fifth at 12-under.

 

Randhawa had started to scale up the leaderboard yesterday, when he made a spotless 65. He continued his march up the order with an encore on Saturday – producing three birdies on either side of his march across the picturesque golf course in Switzerland. Randhawa was three under through seven holes as he took off from where he left it on Friday.

 

Jyothi was checked when he made a six at the par-5 ninth hole, but a birdie at the tenth repaired the damage immediately. Another pair of back to back birdies at the 15th and 16th gave him a second straight 65 to help him finish the day at 8-under through the third round. Randhawa is T16, in a group of five men lying eight behind the leader.

 

“I’m happy with the way I played. I putted well the last two days, made several birdies putts and overall, I’m very happy,” said Randhawa. “I haven’t played a lot of golf in the last three months so it was like a practice round on the first day. You get a little edgy and I needed to figure out what I need to do in the second and third round. I’m glad I’m playing well now,” added the experienced Indian. “I’m 42-years old and I’m still enjoying my golf. In fact, my best golf is yet to come.”

 

Lahiri produced a 68, fueled mainly by an eagle at the par-5 first hole and two other birdies. He could have been two better for the day, but a double bogey six at the par-4 14th hole offset some of his earlier good work. Anirban lost a couple of spots on a day of prolific scores to slip into a tie for 40th, going into the final round on Sunday.

 

Gangjee gave raise to hopes of a climb up the charts with three birdies in the first seven holes, but his round went from good to worse in the space of four holes starting from the 9th. Four consecutive bogeys and another at the 16th pushed him down to 71 and even par for the tournament, with one more round left to play.

 

Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Digvijay Singh and Jeev Milkha Singh failed to make the weekend.

 

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