DLF Masters: Bhullar holds on to the lead

Gurgaon:

Gaganjeet Bhullar held on to his one-stroke lead over senior pro Jyoti Randhawa (67) after turning in a sedate three-under 69 in the third round of the DLF Masters golf tournament here on Saturday.

Bhullar's third round effort ensured he ended the day at 11-under 205, one stroke ahead of Randhawa. Shamim Khan (69) and Digvijay Singh (71) were tied third at eight-under 208. One over after six holes, Bhullar picked up three birdies on the seventh, ninth and 11th to turn the heat on Randhawa, who had grabbed the lead by then.

The Kapurthala pro found a bogey on the 12th but bounced back with great approach shots on the 13th and 15th to produce two invaluable birdies.

"I hit some really good approach shots today. But my overall performance was not as good as yesterday. I'm quite disappointed about missing some short putts. Jyoti had a great round considering the pin positions were very tough today," said Bhullar.

"I'm now looking forward to an interesting contest on the final day. I feel confident of posting a good score in round four as I have been able to achieve this on many previous occasions this season," he added.

However, Randhawa had a great day on his home course producing his best card of the tournament.

The Delhi golfer birdied the third, fourth, fifth and seventh to make the turn at four-under and then went past Bhullar and Shamim to grab the lead with an incredible eagle-birdie run on the 10th and 11th.

The former Asia no. 1 then stumbled to a double bogey on the 12th owing to a misdirected tee shot. A birdie followed on the 13th before an ordinary approach shot on the 15th led to another bogey.

"I was a little more aggressive today as compared to the previous two rounds. I started off well but then had an up and down back nine. The eagle on the 10th was highlight of the day for me," Randhawa said.

"However, the double bogey on the 12th changed the course of my round. I could have easily made par on that hole had I not hit it out of bounds.

"Nonetheless, I'm happy to be just one shot off the lead at this stage and a keen contest between Bhullar, myself and a few others on the final day augurs well for Indian golf,"he added.

Nepal's Toran Bikram Shahi and Ashok Kumar were tied fifth at six-under 210 while SSP Chowrasia and Yusuf Ali shared the seventh place with identical totals of five-under 211.

Further down is Shiv Kapur at tied 12th with a total of one-under 215.