By IANS
Gurgaon : Ashok Kumar sizzled to yet another superb round of five-under 67 in the third round of the Rs.2.5 million Colour Plus Open Saturday.
Kumar fired six birdies against just one bogey and climbed to 15-under 201 to open up a four-shot lead over his nearest rival, Digvijay Singh (68), at the Golden Greens Golf and Country Club here.
Young Gaganjeet Bhullar, looking for his maiden win as a professional in his rookie season, shot the day's best of six-under 66 and tied third with seasoned professionals Gaurav Ghei (68) and S.S.P. Chowrasia (70).
Four others – C. Muniyappa (68), Mukesh Kumar (69), Mohammed Islam (72) and Vikrant Chopra (70) – were tied for sixth at six-under 210.
Kumar continued to be in the kind of form that has already fetched him four titles this season. He started in style with a birdie on the first and did not let off through the day. He added birdies on the fifth and seventh and turned in three-under 33.
But Digvijay, who started the third round with three shots in deficit, almost caught up with Kumar. Digvijay was on fire as he had five birdies and came through the first half in five-under 31.
At that stage, Kumar's lead was down to just one shot. However, he birdied the 11th hole and Digvijay dropped a shot and the two-shot swing saw the gap rise to three again.
Kumar added two more birdies and bogeyed the 17th while Digvijay added one each of birdie and bogey to end at 68.