PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Dec 24: Chikkarangappa S of Bengaluru stormed into the third-round lead after firing a sublime 10-under 62, the week’s lowest score so far.
Chikka’s total moved to 17-under 199 giving him a one-shot advantage at the Rs 3 crore Tata Steel Tour Championship 2022, the Tata Steel PGTI’s season-ending event being played at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf Courses in Jamshedpur.
Fourteen-time PGTI winner Chikka (66-71-62), who has been a runner-up on two previous occasions in Jamshedpur, once at the 17th Tata Open 2018 and then again at the Tata Steel Tour Championship 2020, zoomed 12 spots from his overnight tied 13th following his extraordinary third round effort that featured two early eagles.
Delhi’s Kapil Kumar (63-70-67), lying overnight tied second, produced a 67 on Friday to close the day in lone second place at 16-under 200 and maintain himself in the top-3 for the third day running at the richest-ever event on the PGTI.
Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (69-67-65) struck a 65 to move up six spots to third position at 15-under 201.
TATA Steel PGTI Rankings leader Manu Gandas of Gurugram was in a good position to stake his claim for the PGTI Order of Merit title as his round of 68 saw him continue in tied fourth place at 14-under 202, comfortably ahead of his nearest rivals for the title – Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu (tied 14th at 10-under 206), Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow (tied 17th at nine-under 207) and Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (tied 42nd at one-under 215).
Second-round leader Mohd Azhar (70) of Vikarabad, slipped three spots to join Gandas and Karandeep Kochhar (68) of Chandigarh in tied fourth place.
Chikkarangappa was off to an unbelievable start on day three as he made eagles on the second and fourth holes with 15-feet conversions on both occasions. He also narrowly missed an eagle from 20 feet on the third where he settled for a birdie. The bogey on the fifth didn’t upset Chikka’s momentum as he continued to fire in his irons and wedges within close range picking up birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth.
Chikka, a two-time winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) then made further in-roads on the back-nine claiming four birdies including two from 12 feet in exchange for a bogey.
The prize distribution ceremony of the golf tourney will take place later in the afternoon today.
