Om Prakash Chouhan continues to enjoy top spot despite his 73 in round three of Gujarat Open
Om Prakash Chouhan carded an unsatisfactory one-over-73 on Thursday, but he still managed to enjoy a substantial lead for the third consecutive day at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021.
Mhow based Chouhan's weak show in round three resulted in his overnight lead of seven being reduced to five shots as his total stood at 11-under-205.
Abhinav Lohan, who began the day ten shots behind the lead in tied 11th place, carded the third round’s joint best score of four-under-68 to move up nine spots into second place at six-under-210.
The veteran Chikkarangappa S shot a 70 to close the day in third place at five-under-211.
“With the kind of lead that I enjoyed at the start of the round, I knew that I just needed to play steady and didn’t need to do anything fancy. The front-nine being tougher to score on, I decided to play conservative golf and not attack the greens on that stretch. Finding the greens on the front-nine is imperative as chip-putts are not easy if you miss those greens." said Chouhan.
He further added, “I’ll go in with the same mindset in the final round since I still have a healthy lead. I’ll look to play safe on the front-nine and then decide my game-plan after the turn depending on the match situation.
“In recent times, I’ve played three good rounds and one bad round at most events. Hopefully, the bad round is now out of the way with today’s 73. I can look forward to a good score in round four.”
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (72) was in sixth place at three-under-213, while Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee (74) was a further shot back in the seventh position.
PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar (76) of Chandigarh was tied eighth at one-under-215.
Udayan Mane (71), who calls Kalhaar Blues & Greens one of his home courses, closed the day in tied 16th at one-over-217.
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