Gaganjeet Bhullar shot a terrific 65 in the third round of the PGTI Players' championship at the RCGC and occupied the top spot with a three round cumulative score of 203 on Friday.
Bhullar from Kapurthala has a lead of six strokes over his nearest rivals, Sanjay Kumar (68), Rahil Gangjee (69) and S.S.P. Chowrasia (70), who were lying on the joint second spot with 209.
Bhullar almost ensured the crown unless he played a very bad final round on the morrow. "My approach shots were much better and the putter was really hot. I putted well from a range of eight to 12 feet. One of the best moments in the third round was the conversion of a 20-foot birdie putt on the 10th. I have a healthy lead at the moment but one has to always guard against getting complacent in such a situation. That is what I will keep in mind on the final day,” he said after a very satisfying day's play.
Bhullar had birdies on the fourth, sixth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 15th and 16th and generally played a flawless game.
Sanjay Kumar, Gangjee and Chowrasia did play well but failed to match the brilliance of Bhullar. Overnight leader Vijay Kumar had a terrible round of three over par 75 to slide to fourth spot.
Top results: 1. Bhullar (69, 69, 65) 203, 2. Sanjay Kumar (68, 73, 68), Rahil Gangjee (72, 68, 69), S.S.P. Chowrasia (67, 72, 70) 209, 3. Ajeetesh (70, 71, 69), Raju Ali (66, 73, 71) 210, 4. Vijay Kumar (66, 70, 75) 211, Harendra P. Gupta (71, 72, 70), Mukesh Kumar 71, 71, 71), Mithun Perera (68, 74, 71), Shamim Khan (72, 69, 72) 213.
