New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) Australian Wade Ormsby survived a nightmarish front nine to keep a one shot lead over Lam Chih-Bing (73) at the end of the third day of the Panasonic Open India.
Ormsby is eighth-under 208 while Lam is seven-under 209 and the top Indian now is local lad Shiv Kapur, who battled to a even par 72 and shared the third spot with veteran Boonchu Ruangkit (73) at the Delhi Golf Course Saturday.
Ormsby, who opened with a birdie just as his playing partner Lam did, but then bogeyed four times over the next eighth to drop from the lead. But the Aussie birdied the last hole to take sole possession of the lead just as Lam crumbled on the back with four bogeys in last five holes.
Ormsby has held at least a share of the lead since the first day when he and Singaporean Lam shot 67 each. Lam, at one stage, was threatening to win away at three-under for the day and 11-under for the tournament with five holes to play. But then things unravelled for him while Ormsby held his nerve.
Even as leaders struggled in the wind, Jyoti Randhawa played a flawless five-under 67 and two other local boys, Manav Jaini (68) and Shamim Khan (67), made the charge with handsome gains.
Randhawa moved from one-over for two days to four-under for 54 holes and leapt from tied 22nd to sole fifth. Jaini rose from tied 22nd to the sixth which he shares with defending champion Digvijay Singh, who played a third straight one-under 71, and was the only player with three sub-par rounds.
Shamim Khan also catapulted up the leaderboard with a 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys and now lies tied tenth.
S.S.P. Chowrasia (77) had a horrendous round with a five-over 77 that included four bogeys, one double bogey and just one birdie on eighth.
“It’s like the US Open conditions out there. I have never seen conditions like this at the DGC. Par seems a good score in these conditions,” said Kapur.
Ormsby said, “I started fantastic but my putter was a bit dry today and I hope to get it going again tomorrow. I hit it pretty solid in my back-nine and I’m feeling good as it was kind of surprising to see myself leading at the end.”
“I just wasn’t making the putts. But you just got to keep going on this golf course and see where you finish up. Straight up the hill, right to left and you shouldn’t miss them. It was definitely a sign of relief when I birdied that hole. My putter was frustrating me a bit and it was overall a tough day.”
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