Mukesh Kumar leads by two strokes

by Haryananewswire
GURGAON, February 12
Mukesh Kumar (68, 70, 67) leads the field by two strokes after round three of the Solaris Chemtech Open Golf Championship. Mukesh shot five under 67 in the third round to move his total to 11 under 205. Gaurav Pratap Singh is placed second at nine under 207. Rahil Gangjee's bogey-free 65, the best round of the day, placed him tied third at eight under 208 along with Arjun Singh.
Mukesh Kumar, the 2007-08 PGTI Order of Merit winner, will be in the hunt for his fifth title on the PGTI when he tees it up on Friday. If he wins on Friday he would equal Ashok Kumar's record of maximum wins on the PGTI. Mukesh birdied the third, fifth, sixth, ninth, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and made bogeys on the seventh, eighth and 10th.
The veteran commented, "I excelled with the putter today even though my hitting was average. My best birdie was on the sixth where I sank a tough 20 feet putt from left to right. I haven't played in the leader group for quite some time now and am now looking forward to getting back into the winning habit."
Mukesh added, "I will play according to my plan for the first nine holes and then take stock of the situation before deciding strategy for the final nine holes."
Gaurav Pratap Singh (72, 65, 70) is placed second at the moment, two strokes off the lead. Gaurav made an incredible eagle on the 14th besides making birdies on the second and 18th and bogeys on the fourth and fifth.
"I putted well today but somehow I couldn't sink the putts. I had a good eagle today on the 14th where I sank a difficult 25 feet putt from right to left. I could have had another eagle on the 18th but my third shot from 46 yards lipped-out and left me with a three feet putt for birdie," said Gaurav.
He added, "Even though I am playing in the leader group for the first time on the final day of a professional event, I will just go out there and play my game and not think about anything else."
Rahil Gangjee (71, 72, 65) shot into contention after returning an amazing seven under 65 on Thursday. He is in tied third place at eight under 208. His round on Thursday was punctuated by seven birdies. Arjun Singh (67, 70, 71) is also tied third along with Gangjee.
M Dharma, the round two leader, slipped to fifth after shooting two over 74 in the third round. His overall score reads six under 210.