Akshay Sharma extends lead in Panchkula

Panchkula, November 6

Chandigarh golfer Akshay Sharma emerged as the outright favourite for the title after extending his lead to a commanding five shots in the third round of the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2020 here on Friday.

Akshay, the overnight leader by three shots, came up with a composed 5-under 67 despite some early jitters in the third round at the Panchkula Golf Club.

The 30-year-old, who has led the field for the first three days, now has a tournament tally of 19-under 197.

Karandeep Kochhar, also hailing from Chandigarh, struck a 69 to continue in second place at 14-under 202.

Bengaluru's Chikkarangappa (72) was placed third at 11-under 205 while Kolkata's Viraj Madappa fired the day's best score of 64 to rise 21 spots to fourth position at 9-under 207.

Akshay (64-66-67) continued to impress at the first PGTI event in eight months as he worked his way to a healthy lead on Day 3, thus setting himself up for his second title.

Akshay, who had gone bogey-free in the first two rounds, made his first error of the week when he dropped a double-bogey on the second after an inaccurate bunker shot.

A winner on the PGTI in 2018, Akshay came back roaring after the early setback by picking up birdies on the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th.

He made a good up and down from the bunker on the 6th and an excellent recovery from the trees on the 7th.

Akshay's hot putter earned him birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th where he drained putts from a range of 25 to 45 feet. He made 15 greens in regulation for the second day running.

"It was another solid round for me barring one error early on. My hitting was as good as the last two rounds but I didn't hit it that close to the holes today. My placement wasn't as accurate if one compares to the previous two days," said Akshay.

Karandeep (68-65-69), who trailed the leader by three at the start of the day, kept pace with Akshay for most of the day collecting five birdies in the first 13 holes.

He drove the green on the par-4 6th to make birdie and also set up four feet birdie conversions on the 5th and 8th.

Karandeep then suffered a couple of setbacks towards the end dropping bogeys on the 15th and 17th. He found the hazard on the 15th and got unlucky on the 17th where his ball bounced on the edge of the green, hit a tree and was deflected about 40 yards away.

Chikkarangappa (66-67-72) slipped from overnight tied second to third place as a result of his 72 which included three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.

Madappa struck an incredible 64, one shy of Mandeo Singh Pathania's 2009 course record of 63.

Viraj made an 85-feet putt from the front edge of the green for his eagle-two on the 11th. He then knocked in putts from a range of 12 to 30 feet from the 13th to the 17th.

Udayan Mane of Pune, the PGTI Order of Merit leader, posted a flawless 66 to move up 10 spots to fifth place at 8-under 208. PTI