Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal are close to the leaders

Thongchai Jaidee, the Thai golfer with a permanent smile, shot a 3-under-69 on day three of the US$300,000 Wills Indian Open, to take sole possession of the lead at 11-under.

Ross Bain from Scotland, who made a strong challenge by carding a 4-under-68 for the day to move to 10-under after the third round, is in second place. The leading Indian, defending champion Jyoti Randhawa is tied with three others at 8-under for third place.

Jaidee, who is currently third on the 2001 APGA Order of Merit, had two birdies in a bogey-free front nine, one on the par-3 2nd, where he hit a three iron and holed a 12-foot putt, the other on the par-4 4th hole, where he came out of the bunker and sank a 6-footer for a "sandy", making the turn at 2-under.

On the par-4 12th hole, Jaidee teed-off with his driver, and amazingly overshot the green 350 yards away ending out-of-bounds, but made a three with his second ball to make his only bogey of the day. Consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th, helped him finish the day at 3-under-69 atop the leaderboard.

"I have been putting well," said Jaidee, who seemed to be having some problems off the tee, "but I have the same gameplan everyday." Jaidee who has had a strong start to the season finishing 2nd in the Thailand Masters, 9th in the US$910,000 Malaysian Open and 29th in the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. He appears poised for his second victory on the APGA Tour.

Ross Bain, the Scot who was in joint second place yesterday, made a spectacular charge today, burying five birdies with a solitary bogey to finish up at 4-under-68 for the day, and 10-under after three rounds. He shot four birdies on the front nine, the best being a chip-in on the par-3 5th, and a 25-feet putt on the par-4 8th.

"I played nicely, putted well, and hit the ball solidly" said Bain, who finished 14th at last year’s Wills Indian Open. "I’m just going to go out and make some putts tomorrow," added Bain, who thinks the Classic course is in great shape with the "greens rolling nicely".

Jyoti had a mixed bag today, offsetting his four birdies with four bogeys, finishing at par for the day and remaining at 8-under after three rounds. "I wasn’t really satisfied," said a reflective Jyoti. "I didn’t putt or chip well, and wasn’t really focussed. It just felt like my mind was blank, and the round just went by. I will certainly be better tomorrow," added the local favourite.

Overnight co-leader Chris Williams from South Africa also shot a par round, with five birdies, three bogies and a double bogey on the par-4 13th, remaining at 8-under after three rounds. Gerald Rosales (PHI) shot a bogey-free round with two birdies to card a 2-under for the round, finishing with 8-under after round three. South African Nico van Rensberg had four birdies to go with a single bogey to card a 3-under-69 to move up to 8-under after three rounds, joining Randhawa, Williams and Rosales in third place.

Arjun Atwal, the 1999 Wills Indian Open champion, moved into contention for his fourth APGA Title with a 68, moving from 2-under after two rounds to finish up at 6-under-par. He had a chance to move even closer to the leaders, but dropped two shots, one on the par-3, 5th and another on the par-4, 13th, failing to recover from the sand on both occasions. He also squandered a birdie chance on the par-5 18th by missing a 10-foot putt after a great third shot out of the right bunker. "I’m not sure what went wrong after the 13th hole, because I was playing quite solidly," said Atwal. "I do have a 14-under total in mind for the tournament," he added confidently.

Ashok Kumar, the only amateur to make the cut, showed signs of being ready for the pro-ranks, finishing at 2-over after three rounds to be placed in joint 60th place overall.

The quality of play at the 2001 Wills Indian Open is underlined by the strong field of which 40 players are under par after 54 holes.