Displaying remarkable consistency for the third successive day, Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya regained sole top position as he got into a two-shot lead with a five-under 65 penultimate round card of the Rs 1 crore TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Tollygunge golf Club, here on Thursday.
Searching for his maiden title, Sachin has scored three round aggregate of 15-under 195.
Delhi-based Harsh Gangwar, the overnight joint leader slipped to second place with a round of 67 but stayed in hunt for a title, with a total of 13-under 197.
US-based rookie Varun Chopra, playing his first event as a pro on the PGTI, was placed third at 12-under 198 following his round of 65.
Sachin (64-66-65), who has been in the lead since the start of the event, was on a roll after he sank a 25-feet birdie on the first hole. 27-year-old Sachin went on to pick up three more shots till the 10th.
He bogeyed on the 12th but that didn’t derail his round as he quickly regained ground with a chip-in birdie on the 14th followed by a 20-feet birdie putt on the 16th. He closed out the round with two good par saves on the 17th and 18th.
“My confidence soared after a great tee shot and a long conversion resulted in a birdie on the first hole. I was in good rhythm thereafter on the front-nine. On the back-nine, the chip-in on the 14th got me going. I then made some terrific par saves from tough positions that helped me close the round on a positive note.” said the leader.
Harsh (66-64-67) was four-under through the front-nine after making an eagle, three birdies and a bogey. The 25-year-old Harsh chipped-in from the bunker for a birdie on the fifth and drained a 25-footer for eagle on the seventh.
However, after his double-bogey on the 10th, the birdies dried up for Gangwar as his ball-striking was not as accurate. Harsh could only pick up a stroke on the 15th.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (67) and Patna’s Aman Raj (68) kept themselves in contention as they were tied fourth at 11-under 199. Defending champion Yuvraj Sandhu (67) moved into tied 25th at four-under 206.
Kolkata’s Sandeep Yadav (68), the lone amateur to make the cut, was a further shot back in tied 31st place. Raju Ali Mollah (69), the only local professional to make the cut, was tied 35th at two-under 208 along with Udayan Mane (72).