Abhishek Jha opened up a commanding six-shot lead on the third day of the Asian Development Tour’s Take Solutions India Masters. On a balmy Friday, Jha returned a card of seven-under 65 to finish with a three-round total of 197.
In second place was the pair of S. Chikkarangappa (203) and R. Murthy, who shot the day’s best round of 64. Four shots behind them was a logjam of six golfers, including Thursday’s star, Nils Floren. Jha had admitted earlier, rather modestly, that his first goal was to make the cut. But he played far better than he gave himself credit for. Jha’s round was lit up by eagles on 10 and 15, both made with tremendous putts from 40 feet.
“I didn’t expect to make either of them. Those putts just felt like five-footers. I got very lucky today. Just crazy,” he said.
Jha looked like draining a third eagle on the par-four 17, but the ball broke away at the last moment and tiptoed around the edge of the cup. As it was, he finished with 65 while Chikkarangappa and Floren, his partners in the leader-group, struggled to keep pace.
Chikkarangappa suffered an injury on the 15th, when his club slipped through his fingers and struck him on the base of the thumb. He missed his par putt, but then put all worries to rest by making birdie on two of the next three holes.
Murthy, who had started the day in 10th, climbed up in dramatic fashion, firing consecutive birdies on the last five holes. “When I got up this morning, I felt I was going to shoot a low score,” the Bangalore-based golfer said. “My coach, Gaurav Diwan, has helped me improve my ball-striking to about 280 yards. I started with a few good pars and that gave me confidence.”
The scores (top eight after 54 holes): 197: Abhishek Jha (66, 66, 65); 203: R. Murthy (71, 68, 64), S. Chikkarangappa (64, 70, 69); 207: Niall Turner (67, 70, 70), M. Dharma (67, 71, 69), Deepinder Kullar (67, 69, 71), Khalin Joshi (67, 69, 71), Nils Floren (71, 62, 74).
