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New Delhi, March 11: Defending champion S.S.P. Chawrasia of India remained in prime position to retain his Hero Indian Open title after staying in a three-way tie for the lead when play was suspended due to darkness on Saturday.
The five-time Asian Tour winner stood at six-under-par for the tournament alongside England’s Eddie Pepperell and Spaniard Carlos Pigem through 11 holes of the third round at the DLF Golf and Country Club’s Gary Player course.
Malaysian rookie Gavin Green, playing on a sponsor’s invite, made a brilliant charge by snaring six straight birdies from the fifth hole to lie one back of the co-leaders with one hole to finish on Sunday morning. He was six under for the day after starting the third round six off the lead.
Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland and England’s David Horsey were a further stroke back which will ensure a battle royale on Sunday in the US$1.75 million tournament tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Indian Golf Union.
Chawrasia started the third round tied alongside Pepperell and kept up his hopes of keeping his title with birdies on the fourth and ninth holes against a bogey on two. Likewise, Pepperell was also steady, overcoming a bogey on six with birdies on eight and nine.
Pigem, who started the day three off the lead, birdied his opening two holes before reeling in birdies on seven, eight and 11 to tie for the lead when play was halted at 6.27pm due to darkness. His only dropped shot was on six.
The 23-year-old Green, highly touted following a strong amateur career in the United States, wielded a hot putter which included birdies on his first and 17th holes to keep his hopes alive for a maiden Asian Tour victory.
The third round will resume at 7am, Sunday, with the final round starting no earlier than 9.45am.
Did you know:
· Chawrasia has played in five tournaments this year, missing three cuts and posting a tied 35th in Perth as his best finish to date.· Chawrasia won the Hero Indian Open title by two shots last year. Prior to that, he had finished runner-up on four occasions. He also won the Resorts World Manila Masters last November for his first overseas victory and finished sixth on the Order of Merit.· In 47 holes, Chawrasia has dropped only three bogeys. He is also chasing his fourth European Tour victory, hoping to emulate Jeev Milkha Singh’s four wins as well.· Pepperell played 16 holes this morning to finish his second round of 70 to tie for the halfway lead.· Pepperell holds one win on the Challenge Tour in 2012 and is searching for a maiden European Tour win. He finished 113th on the 2016 Race to Dubai but claimed the eighth card at the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage to keep his place on the European Tour.· In three tournaments this year, Pepperell has not made a single cut.· Pigem is seeking a second Asian Tour victory following his success at the 2016 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship last year.· Pigem finished second at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open earlier this year and is currently sixth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.· Green has played in three Asian Tour tournaments this season, making all the cuts and finished tied 47th at the Maybank Championship for his best result thus far. His best Asian Tour finish of his career is tied sixth at the 2013 Selangor Masters in Malaysia when he was still an amateur.· Green has three wins on the Asian Development Tour, with one in 2014 when he was still an amateur. He finished second on the ADT Order of Merit last year to earn his card on the Asian Tour.· Green graduated from the University of New Mexico with a business degree and was a multiple-time All-American. He was ranked as high as 12th in the world amateur ranking. Quotes
SSP Chawrasia (Ind), Current Score -6, through 11 holes
I stuck to the same game plan that I have had for the first two rounds. I just want to hit straight, keep the ball in play and keep giving myself chances all the time. I am happy that I managed to do that, despite the bogey I dropped. On this course, a few misses are bound to happen, but one cannot think about them.
For instance on the sixth, I had a long par putt and I holed it after coming out of the bunker. The key is not give away loose shots. Birdies are so difficult to find on this course and they require a lot of hard work, so to give away a bogey is painful.
I wanted to cut down unnecessary risks and stay focused on my plan and it has worked well so far. Last night I was relaxed and just focused on positive thoughts from last year and the resolved to stay focused.
Carlos Pigem (Esp), Current Score -6, through 11 holes
I’m really happy about my round. I started strong with two birdies. I made one mistake with a bogey, then got another few more birdies. So if I can keep playing really good, let’s see what can happen tomorrow.
The most important thing on this course is to have patience. This course is really tough and you need to know when you can be aggressive and when you should be more conservative. That’s the key. Obviously the greens are really big with lots of slopes and it’s very tough to make putts.
There are still 25 holes to play. I’m in contention to win, so let’s see if I can do it. I’m really excited. It was a shame to finish today because I was playing really good. But I will have a good sleep and see if tomorrow I can play as good as today.
Eddie Pepperell (Eng), Current Score -6, thru 11 hole
It was tough out there. The front nine is pretty demanding off the tee. I hit a lot of good tee shots, so I’m happy with that. I started to ship a bit, you know I missed a few putts, but I’m still in there and we’ll see how tomorrow goes. It will be another long day. I guess I can take confidence from what I’ve done today. I managed to keep my form pretty good all day. I’ll try to do that again tomorrow.
Even on a flat, calm day this course is tough. The greens are firm, the pin positions are tricky. It’s difficult. The fairways are tight, there’s no let-up. You need to hit good shot after good shot.
(Courtesy: Asian Tour)
