Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar opened up a two-shot lead on the penultimate day of the Bengaluru Open Golf Championship. The 20-year-old shot a steady three-under-69 in the third round to sign for a total of 11-under-205 and ease into pole position for the title at the KGA course here on Thursday.
Rahil Gangjee (68-68-71) and Abhinav Lohan (70-67-70) were tied for second place at nine-under-207, with the trio of Sanjeev Kumar, Sudhir Sharma and Trishul Chinnappa one shot further behind in fourth.
Windy
Conditions were far from easy on the third day, with the wind causing problems. Kochhar (67-69-69), still looking for his first title as a professional, made six birdies and three bogeys. The first of those bogeys came on the sixth, when Kochhar made an error in club selection and found the water. He ended the round on a high, sinking two long birdie putts on the 16th and 18th holes.
“I’ve made some mistakes in all three rounds but I’ve made more birdies than the number of mistakes. So that has kept me ahead,” said Kochhar.
Up and down
Gangjee, for his part, produced five birdies and four bogeys to move up from his overnight tied fourth. “It was an up and down round for me,” he said. “The conditions were the toughest today. I’m still in a good position and a solid start in round four would be crucial for me.”
Lohan, who has been in good form over the past few months, carded a third round of 70, with four birdies and two bogeys, that lifted him to tied second from sixth. Meanwhile, Chinnappa and Sharma, joint leaders overnight, shot identical rounds of 73 to slip to tied fourth.
The scores (top seven after three rounds): 205: Karandeep Kochhar (67, 69, 69); 207: Abhinav Lohan (70, 67, 70), Rahil Gangjee (68, 68, 71); 208: Sanjeev Kumar (72, 69, 67), Sudhir Sharma (70, 65, 73), Trishul Chinnappa (70, 65, 73); 209: Akshay Neranjen (A) (70, 70, 69).
