By IANS,
Bangalore : Vikram Rana and Gagan Verma carded an identical three-day total of 3-under 213 to be tied for the lead in the LG Southern India Open Golf Thursday.
Rana shot a 1-under par, while Verma submitted a 1-over par card in the third round.
Rashid Khan, who signed off with birdies on his last two holes, shot the day’s best score of 3-under 69 but was three shots behind the duo. The Delhi golfer was tied for the third place with Abhinav Lohan at 213.
Manav Das and H.S. Kang shared the fifth position at 217. Sharing the seventh spot were Rahul Bakshi and Chikkarangappa at 218.
Rana, who had emerged as the leader in the opening round, played some brilliant golf under trying conditions, with heavy winds making it difficult for the players.
After a strong start, Rana struck four birdies on the even holes from 4th to be four-under for the day after the 10th. Rana, however, lost four shots making double bogeys on the 12th and 13th.
Rana birdied the 15th and saw that he did not commit any further mistakes. “It is really disappointing. I was playing some good golf and those two holes did me in,” said Rana.
Verma made a dream start making birdies on the first two holes. The lanky golfer dropped shots on the third and seventh as he took the turn at even par. With an early birdie on the 11th, Gagan was back to under par score but a bogey on the 15th and the finishing hole forced him to be tied for the lead.
Top scores after 54 holes: 213 Vikram Rana (70, 72, 71), Gagan Verma (72, 68, 73); 216 Rashid Khan (71, 76, 69), Abhinav Lohan (72, 72, 72); 217 Manav Das (75, 69, 73), H.S. Kang (74, 68, 75); 218 Rahul Bakshi (78, 70, 70), Chikkarangappa (74, 69, 75); 220 Saurav Bahuguna (72, 74, 74); 221 Abhishek Jha (75, 75, 71); 222 Simarjeet Singh (76, 74, 72), Karan Vasudeva (74, 74, 74); 224 Siddharth Seth (72, 81, 71), Karan Singh (73, 75, 76), Arshdeep Tiwana (71, 77, 76), Jasjeet Singh (72, 75, 77).