By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
New Delhi : The late blips notwithstanding Arjun Atwal and S.S.P. Chowrasia led a high level Indian presence in the race for the top honours at the first-ever European Tour golf event at the Delhi Golf Club Saturday.
The Kolkata duo, who finished one-two at the Indian Open exactly a decade ago, played together in the third round and by the time it ended, they were sharing the fifth spot, just two shots away from leader Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (72) in the event co-sanctioned by Asian and European Tours.
Two other Indians, Gaurav Ghei (70) and Digvijay Singh, too, were in top-10 at tied 10th, the same as tournament favourite Ernie Els, whose 69 was the best score of the day.
Overnight leader Damien McGrane struggled in the windy conditions as the misery for the golfers was compounded by some tough pin positions. McGrane (75) was tied for second with Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara (71) and Graeme McDowell (73), all at five-under 211.
Atwal and Chowrasia may well have had at least a share of the lead but for late mishaps. Atwal six-under after 14 holes dropped back-to-back bogeys on 15th and 16th and then missed a birdie on the 18th to finish at four-under.
“Things were pretty tough out there. I played decent. (But) I just made a lot of mistakes out there and I made a double on seventh, which really hurt me a lot. I don’t need to make any doubles on a golf course like this. I’m not going to hit it in the bush,” said Atwal.
On his overall play, he said: “The highlight was just keeping it just under the wind. There was really nothing. It was pretty boring actually. I didn’t do anything spectacular, no chip-ins or long putts. Just greens and making a few putts here and there.”
Chowrasia, smiling despite the last hole, said: “The conditions were very tough but one-under is a good score. The wind was strong and it was also cold at times, which is why I’m quite happy with my score despite the last hole.”
“I started off well with a birdie on the first and the third and I turned at two-under. I spoiled only two holes, the 10th which was a double-bogey and I three-putted the last hole, 18, but (still) overall I was quite happy.”
Chowrasia overcame a double bogey on 10th and then another bogey on 15th with back-to-back birdies on 16th and 17th. A third successive birdie seemed to be his for the taking, but he three-putted from inside 10 feet and dropped to four-under.
The leader Jacquelin was rather unhappy with his putting. “I am just a little disappointed with the way I putted today (Saturday). I didn’t hole any except the 14th to make a good eagle. But the rest was really poor on the green. So that’s why I am a little disappointed but pleased to be up there.”
Atwal and Chowrasia apart, Gaurav Ghei (70) continued his upward climb and was now tied for 10th alongside Digvijay Singh (74).
Ghei, who like many others in the Indian contingent has spent a considerable amount of time honing his skills on this course, was 77th after the first round 75, but moved to 31st with a second round of 69 and then with only a handful of sub-par scores, he took another upward leap, this time into top-10.
Digvijay, who has often faltered in the closing stages of an Asian Tour event after being in contention, overcame a horrible start – three-over after first four holes – to return a card of 74.
Jyoti Randhawa’s slide down the leaderboard continued as four bogeys in a matter of six holes from the sixth to the 11th took their toll and he finished with a three-over 75 and fell to 23rd.
But at the same place, there was unheralded Randhir Singh Ghotra, who came into the tournament only following the last minute withdrawal of the indisposed Simon Dyson. Ghotra, whose elder brother Ranjit Singh missed the cut, shot the day’s second best score of 70 and was one-over 217 for 54 holes.
Other Indians were Amandeep Johl (76) and Ashok Kumar (75) in tied 44th place; Shiv Kapur (78) in tied 55th place; Shamim Khan (76) and C.Muniyappa (77) in tied 58th place; Rahul Ganapathy (78) and Ali Sher (78) in tied 63rd place and Harmeet Kahlon (83) in 69th place of the 70 players who made the cut.