GURGAON, June 7:Manav Jaini and Kunal Bhasin were sharing the lead after round three of the PGTI Players Championship with identical totals of 10-under-206, here today.
Manav fired a solid one-under-71 on Thursday to stay in the hunt for the title. Jaini knocked down a 30-feet putt for birdie on the eighth.
He then picked up another stroke on the 16th where his second shot from 145 yards landed just eight feet from the flag. But he bogeyed the 17th to end the day with a 71 at the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club.
Bhasin, who was overnight tied sixth, shot a five under-67. He moved up the leaderboard with birdies on the second and eighth that came as a result of a couple of brilliant approach shots.
A misdirected tee-shot led to a double-bogey for Bhasin on the ninth. The 33-year-old Mumbai-based professional then had a fantastic run of five birdies on the back-nine thanks to his superb putting.
Bhasin sank birdie putts from a range of 18 to 20 feet on the 11th and 16th respectively and converted a 10-footer for birdie on the 13th. He narrowly missed out on sinking an 18-feet eagle putt on the 14th. He chipped it within a foot of the pin for birdie on the 18th to end up with a five-under-67 on day three.
“My iron-play was good on the front-nine while putting was outstanding on the back-nine. The putter had gone cold in the second round but now it’s back in business. I don’t have a score in mind for the final round but I’ll try to give myself as many birdie chances as possible,” Bhasin, a winner on the PGTI in 2009, said. (PTI)
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