By IANS,
Chandigarh : Mukesh Kumar shot an even par 72 in the third round to enjoy a one-stroke lead with his total standing at nine under 207 in Players Championship Golf tournament at Chandigarh Golf Club here Friday.
Ranjit Singh, Gaurav Ghei and Ashok Kumar are tied second at eight under 208. Close on the heels of the top four are Vijay Kumar (seven under 209) and Harendra Gupta (six under 210).
Mukesh’s third round effort of 72 was not as impressive as his first two rounds of 69 and 66 but it was still good enough to keep him in the lead. In the day he lost some ground at the beginning of his round as he bogeyed the first and third holes. He then came back with consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh. A double bogey followed on the par three eighth. Mukesh had a solid back nine where he gained two strokes with birdies on the 11th and 13th.
“I am not very satisfied with my round today even though I am the leader going into the final round. I was a little shaky at the beginning with two bogeys on the first three holes. But that’s when I decided to relax and just enjoy my game. Thereafter, I played really well and made only one error, a double bogey on the eighth,” said Mukesh.
Ranjit currently tied second, could put up a good fight in round four, considering he fired a steady 70 in the third round. The Chandigarh-based professional made birdies on the second, fifth, eighth, 10th and bogeys on the seventh and 18th.
Arjun Singh, Harmeet Kahlon and Sujjan Singh are tied seventh at three under 213. C. Muniyappa who produced the day’s best round of four under 68 is currently tied 10th along with Rahul Ganapathy, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Gurbaaz Mann and Himmat Singh Rai (all two under 214).