New Delhi: Red squares on the leaderboard indicating under-par scores continue to be as rare as a sunny day this week at the Hero Indian Open.
When failing light forced players off in yet another truncated round, there were just 11 names in a field of 69 in the red zone, an indication of just how hard it has been around the 7,600-plus yard Gary Player designed course at the DLF G&CC.
Some things don’t change, though. When it is the national Open, the name S.S.P. Chawrasia has to be a constant presence. So it was business as usual for the ever-smiling Kolkatan, the defending champion one of three at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday.
“I stuck to the same game plan that I have had for the first two rounds. 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,” Chawrasia said coming off the course.
“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 difficult to find on this course and they require a lot of hard work, so to give away a bogey is painful.”
Alongside Chawrasia are Spain’s Carlos Pigem and Eddie Pepperell of England. All three will return on Sunday to complete the seven remaining holes of the third round before going into the fourth that is scheduled to start at 9.45 am.
Rookie Malaysian Gavin Green, playing on a sponsor’s invite, turned in the round of the day with a brilliant six under par score with one hole to play. Green hit six straight birdies from the fifth hole to lie one behind the co-leaders after starting the third round six shots off the lead.
Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland and England’s David Horsey were a further stroke behind setting things up nicely for the final day of the $1.75 million tournament that is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Indian Golf Union.
Anirban Lahiri finally came to life in the third round and tough he sits well off the pace with two holes to go in his third round, the yo-yoing scores this week suggest anything is possible on this course.
Chawrasia started the third round tied alongside Pepperell and kept up his title hopes with birdies on the fourth and ninth holes against a bogey on two. Pepperell was also steady, overcoming a bogey on six with birdies on eight and nine.
Pigem, who started the day three behind the leaders, birdied his opening two holes before reeling in birdies on seven, eight and 11 to tie for the lead when play was halted due to darkness.
In 47 holes, Chawrasia has dropped only three shots. He is also chasing his fourth European Tour victory, hoping to emulate Jeev Milkha Singh’s mark of four wins.
