India’s Shiv Kapur showed great composure by ending his round with an eagle-three on the 18th hole to share the third round honours with overnight leader Paul Peterson of the United States at the Panasonic Open India on Saturday.

Having started the day with an opening bogey-six, it was a testing day for Kapur as he had to dig deep into his reserves to grind out a three-under-par 69 to remain on course for his first win on his home course at the Delhi Golf Club.

Shiv Kapur said after the round that it was a hard fight for him today. “I didn’t have my A game by any means. It was a B- at best. I was really struggling off the tees and it was a real battle out there. I hit it into the bush on the first and made a bogey. I hit it again into the bush on 11 and made a double there. So it was nice to finish with an eagle and salvage something out from the day. It was one of those days where I showed lots of grit and character. I’m very proud of myself.”

Meanwhile, Peterson started his round encouragingly with an eagle but fell off the leaderboard momentarily after bogeys on holes two, four and nine. A birdie on 14 before a closing eagle on 18 lifted the American back to the top with his three-day total of 13-under-par 203.

India’s Shamim Khan, who is currently leading the PGTI Order of Merit signed for a 69 to take third place while S.S.P. Chawrasia, who won the Panasonic Open India in 2014, is tied for fourth with compatriots Om Prakash Chouhan and Sudhir Sharma at the US$400,000 event.

Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant remains confident of winning his 19th Asian Tour title as he will head into the final round, three shots back of Kapur and Peterson in seventh place following a 68.

The Panasonic Open India is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and is the second leg of the Panasonic Swing, which is an aggregate points race that spans five events – in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.

Leading scores after round 3 of the Panasonic Open India 2017 being played at the par 72, 6935 Yards Delhi GC course (am – denotes amateur):

203 – Shiv KAPUR (IND) 65-69-69, Paul PETERSON (USA) 69-64-70.

204 – Shamim KHAN (IND) 66-69-69.

205 – Om Prakash CHOUHAN (IND) 70-69-66, Sudhir SHARMA (IND) 69-70-66, S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND) 67-69-69.

206 – Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 67-71-68.

208 – Suradit YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA) 73-71-64, Aman RAJ (IND) 66-73-69, Karandeep KOCHHAR (IND) 71-68-69, Honey BAISOYA (IND) 69-68-71, Divyanshu BAJAJ (IND) 68-68-72.

209 – Veer AHLAWAT (IND) 71-70-68, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 64-73-72.

210 – Rashid KHAN (IND) 71-69-70, Scott BARR (AUS) 68-71-71, Manu GANDAS (IND) 72-67-71, Chiragh KUMAR (IND) 68-71-71.

211 – N. THANGARAJA (SRI) 75-69-67, Sujjan SINGH (IND) 71-73-67, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 73-67-71, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 69-71-71.

212 – Shubhankar SHARMA (IND) 69-74-69, Kapil KUMAR (IND) 73-69-70, Mukesh KUMAR (IND) 72-69-71, Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 68-72-72, Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 70-70-72.

213 – Sihwan KIM (USA) 72-71-70, Sorachut HANSAPIBAN (THA) 74-69-70, Mithun PERERA (SRI) 73-69-71, M. DHARMA (IND) 70-70-73.

214 – Angad CHEEMA (IND) 73-70-71, Nicolas PAEZ (USA) 71-73-70, Pawan KUMAR (IND) 69-75-70, Udayan MANE (IND) 72-74-68.