Chowrasia opens 4-stroke lead

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia gave a sliver of hope to the rest of the field, but none rose to the challenge as the marauding Kolkata pro opened up a four-stroke lead on the penultimate day of the Rs 2.8 million [28 lakh] PGAI-TSM Open, being played at the par-72 Noida Golf Club, on Thursday.

Chowrasia missed at least three putts he would have made blindfolded on any other day, and yet finished the day at two-under 70 to go to 14-under 202 for 54 holes.

Four players - Mukesh Kumar (68), Harmeet Kahlon (69), Ashok Kumar  (70) and Rafiq Ali  (71) - are tied for the second place at ten-under 206. Feroz Ali is in sole sixth place, while Gaurav Ghei, Gurbaaz Mann, Uttam Singh Mundy and Digvijay Singh are in joint seventh place at eight-under 208.

Among the amateurs, Jasjeet Singh of GAIL led at three-under 213 after a fine round of three-under 69, while his brother, Simarjeet Singh of OIL India shot a one-under 71 to be second at one-over 217.

In the morning, it looked as if Digvijay would get the better of an off-colour Chowrasia. He started with a par despite his tee shot getting stuck against a tree trunk on the right. Chowrasia made a bogey from the greenside bunker and the two were tied at 11-under. However, Digvijay bogied the third from the bunker and handed back the advantage to Chowrasia. Both made birdies on the sixth, and then Digvijay charged ahead with birdies on the eighth (he missed a 10-footer for eagle) and ninth. At the turn, Digvijay led by one stroke over Chowrasia at 13-under. Kahlon mounted a charge with birdies on the first, fourth, sixth and eighth and was 11-under at the turn.

On the back nine, Chowrasia made a 12-footer downhill putt on the tenth for a birdie, and then should have added two more in the next two holes, but he missed putts from inside four feet on the 11th and 12th holes. But Digvijay, after missing a three-footer birdie putt on the 11th, crumbled after his luck deserted him on the 12th. His tee shot ended right against a tree trunk and with almost no shot to play, he made a bogey. Thereafter, Digvijay dropped further strokes on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.

"It's nice to lead such a big tournament by four strokes going into the final day, but golf is such a game that nothing can be said till the last putt is made. I am not going to get too comfortable with it as this lead can vanish in just two holes. I am going to play to my own gameplan and do the same things I have been doing for the past three days," said Chowrasia, who is sponsored by L'Oro Golf.

While Digvijay fizzled away, there are still two players - Mukesh Kumar and Ashok Kumar - within striking distance of Chowrasia. A win by either could prevent Chowrasia from ascending to the Order of Merit crown. Today, Mukesh  had a super back nine, while Ashok rued three three-putts in his round of 70.

The story of the day belonged to Feroz, who started with five birdies in-a-row. The Kolkatan finally finished five-under 67 to be tied for sixth position at nine-under 207. However, he could have easily threatened the course record if not for a triple bogey on the par-5 14th hole, which he should have birdied in the normal course of play.

Scores (after 54 holes): 202 _ Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (66,66,70); 206 _ Mukesh Kumar (69,69,68), Harmeet Kahlon (69,68,69), Ashok Kumar (70,66,70), Rafiq Ali (69,66,71); 207 _ Feroz Ali (70,70,67); 208 _ Gaurav Ghei (72,68,68), Gurbaaz Mann (67,71,70), Uttam Singh Mundy (67,70,71), Digvijay Singh (67,66,75); 210 _ Amit Dube (68,72,70); 212 _ Ranjit Singh (72,69,71); 213 _ Vijay Kumar (72,75,66), Jasjeet Singh (Am) (73,71,69), Harinder Gupta (72,69,72), Shamim Khan (68,69,76); 214 _ Vinod Kumar (72,70,72), Indrajit Bhalotia (68,72,74).