In another strange twist, Noida’s Amardip Sinh Malik replaced overnight leader Kapil Kumar of Delhi at the top of the table on the penultimate day of the PGTI Players’ Championship at the par-72 Coimbatore Golf Club course in Chettipalayam here on Friday.
The Noida golfer fired a three-under-69 and, with it, strengthened his three-day total to nine-under-207.
Delhi’s Naman Dawar posted an even-par 72. With an eight-under-208 under his belt, he is just a stroke behind the leader. Dawar is determined to strike big going into the final round, and upset the calculation of Malik, who is chasing his maiden title.
Malik, who was tied fourth overnight, played the course to its merits. He began with five pars and birdied the sixth. The 28-year-old played sensibly from there. He found the par-five 10th green in two shots to pick up a stroke and further chipped and putted for a birdie on the 13th. A bogey on the 14th shook him a bit but he recovered on time to sink a birdie in the 15th to finish the day on a merry note.
Dawar, on the other hand, dropped three strokes on the first four holes. He double bogeyed the first and bogeyed the fourth but carried on bravely with birdies on the ninth and the 13th.
He lost some ground on the 15th when he double bogeyed for the second time but birdies on the last three holes saved the day for the Delhi professional.
Top scores:
207 Amardip Sinh Malik (70, 68, 69); 208 Naman Dawar (68, 68, 72); S. Chikkarangappa (71, 69, 69) & Feroz Ali Mollah (72, 66, 71); 210 Om Prakash Chouhan (68, 68, 74).
