Golfer Akshay Sharma during the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational at Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday. (Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)Chandigarh golfer Akshay Sharma banked on his familiarity with his home conditions once again as he managed to pull himself out of trouble to card a third round score of one-under-71 to lead by one stroke in the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational being played at Chandigarh Golf Course, on Saturday. Sharma’s overall total now stands at 10-under-206 with Noida golfer Amardeep Malik, who carded a third round score of one-under-71, to be placed second with an overall score of nine-under-207.
Sharma’s round saw him dropping two bogeys apart from sinking three birdies. “The weather conditions were the toughest, especially when I started. It was extremely windy so club selection was difficult and that resulted in bogeys for me early on. On the front-nine I found only four greens in regulation and just couldn’t hit it close enough. I am generally one-under on the first four holes but being two-over this time there was some pressure on me. The pressure only released with the 20-feet birdie conversion on the 10th hole. I knew I could get a few more birdies thereafter so I was in good rhythm from there on,” said Sharma.
Malik (68-68-71), another two-time winner on PGTI, came up with an eagle, three birdies and four bogeys during his 71 to keep himself in the hunt. He struck a fabulous approach on the par-5 13th hole to set up a five feet eagle conversion. He also closed the day in style with a birdie chip-in on the 18th hole from behind the green. “It was a really tough day for me considering the wind and the flags being tough. After bogeys on the 11th and 12th, I did well to recover with the eagle on the 13th hole. I then ended the round well with birdies on the last two holes. The chip-in on the 18th probably saved me two shots,’ said Malik.
Anirban Lahiri, who carded a round of two-under-70, gained two spots to be placed tied-third at eight-under-208 along with Patna golfer Aman Raj (68) and Gurugram golfer Veer Ahlawat (72). While Aman gained seven spots in the third round, Ahlawat dropped one spot.
Chandigarh golfer Karandeep Kochhar produced the day’s best score for the second day in succession as he shot a round of five-under-67 to rise 12 positions to be placed at the sixth place at seven-under-209. Pune golfer Udayan Mane (72), Bengaluru golfer Chikkarangappa (70) and Delhi golfer Harshjeet Singh Sethie (73) were all tied-seventh at six-under-210. “It was another good day of ball-striking but the toughest day for me on the greens. I missed so many putts inside 10 feet and also missed a couple of three-footers. However, I feel I didn’t hit too many bad putts. I made a lot of good strokes but had a few bad breaks today. I feel as long as I’m stroking it well on the greens and doing what I need to do, I should have nothing to complain about,” said Lahiri.