Mardan Mamat stayed clear of the four-man Indian charge and inched closer to ending his five-year title-drought after three rounds of the Panasonic Open a the Delhi Golf Club course. The seasoned campaigner from Singapore led by three strokes following a three-under 69.
Though his overnight lead was reduced by one stroke, Mamat will enter the final day as the title-favourite. His tally stands at an impressive 15-under 201.
First-day leader Anirban Lahiri retained the second spot following a 68 — six strokes better than Ben Fox who started the round as joint second.
Lahiri, at 12-under, is followed by Manav Jaini at 11-under. Sharing the fourth spot at 9-under are Mukesh Kumar, Jyoti Randhawa and Himmat Rai.
‘Pretty pleased'
In spite of being chased by five Indians throughout the day, Mamat never looked like losing the lead. He birdied the fourth, eighth and ninth holes and parred the rest.
He looked in trouble on three holes, including the par-five 14th and 18th where he hit into the bushes, but did enough to save pars.
“I'm pretty pleased with how I've played the last three days. This is where I won my first Asian Tour title and hopefully, I can do it again tomorrow. I know everyone back home is hoping that I play well. I've been in this position so many times and I should be able to handle the pressure,” said Mamat.
Lahiri, with two birdies on either side of the turn, returned a bogey-free round.
“I played very solid today. There was fantastic ball-striking, and I putted really well,” said a pleased Lahiri after his 68.
Superb round
Jaini fired six birdies against a lone bogey to take the third spot after a second successive 67. Like in the second round, Jaini started off with a birdie after sinking a 25 feet. He fired a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth hole but “lost a little momentum” on the eighth and ninth holes. He just about managed to par the eighth but three-putted the next for a bogey.
Mukesh Kumar shot an error-free 67 to prepare for the final charge. After two birdies on the front-nine, Mukesh collected four birdies in a row from the 13th hole.
Randhawa, who had moved up to the second spot by shooting six-under for 12 holes during the day, double-bogeyed the 14th, bogeyed the 16th and picked up a stroke on the 18th to complete yet another eventful card.
The scores (Indians unless stated):
Mardan Mamat (Sin) (67, 65, 69) 201; Anirban Lahiri (65, 71, 68) 204; Manav Jaini (71, 67, 67) 205; Mukesh Kumar (70, 71, 66), Jyoti Randhawa (73, 66, 68), Himmat Rai (70, 67, 70) 207; Prom Meesawat (Tha) (74, 70, 66), Ben Fox (USA) (70, 66, 74) 210; Rashid Khan (74, 68, 69), Tjaart van der Walt (RSA) (72, 68, 71) and Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) (74, 66, 71) 211.
Other Indians (with sub-par scores):
Sujjan Singh (74, 69, 69) 212; Ali Sher (73, 71, 69), S. S. P. Chowrasia (73, 72, 68), Mohammad Islam (72, 68, 73) 213; Shamim Khan (70, 73, 72) 215.
