Queen's Cup Golf: SSP Chawrasia jumps to tied fourth after Round 3

SSP Chawrasia

Koh Samui (Thailand), June 20 (IANS)

Seasoned Indian golfer S.S.P. Chawrasia carded four-under 67 to finish joint fourth, while his compatriot Chiragh Kumar scored 70 to be tied 15th after the third round of the $300,000 Queen's Cup at the par-71 Santiburi Samui Country Club here on Saturday.

Chawrasia, who on Friday scored 67 to be at tied 13th, came up with a similar round as he took his three-day total to six-over 207 – five shots distant of leader Akinori Tani. The Japanese charged into a three-shot lead after signing for a sensational seven-under 64 in the penultimate round.

Two-time winner on the European Tour, Chawrasia, 37, got birdies on the first, fifth, sixth, 10th, 11th and 16th holes against bogeys on the second and 14th to share the spot with Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka (68), Canadian Richard T. Lee (71) and Thai trio of Piya Swangarunporn (67), Thanyakon Khrongpha (68) and Atthaphon Sriboonkaew (70).

“I played very good today, to be honest. I putted well but I am not hitting the ball as good. It's a little bit wet out there due to the rain earlier but it was not as tough compared to the first two rounds,” Kolkata-based Chawrasia said in a release.

“I have been playing good this week. I hope I can continue to play like how I did in the last three rounds tomorrow (Sunday). I will stick to the same mindset and will see how it goes.”

Chiragh took his total to three-under 210, while Khalin Joshi went through a poor round of four-over 75 to get a total of 216. Khalin took the tied 40th spot as Rashid Khan was tied 45th after the third round.

Other Indians in the fray, S. Chikka, Digvijay singh, Himmat Rai and Rahil Gangjee missed the halfway cut.

Japan's Tani, who started the round with a four-shot deficit, kept his cool in the heat of battle to return with a flawless round highlighted by seven birdies and a three-day total of 11-under 202.

Overnight leader Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand slipped to second place after carding a 71 while Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman marked his best efforts so far this week with a 67 to take the third place on 206 total at the Asian Tour event.

Should Tani, 40, win on Sunday, he will become the second Japanese and foreigner, following Tetsuji Hiratsuka in 2010, to win the Queen's Cup title since it was inaugurated in 2009.