On the last day, Akshay Sharma fires a week’s lowest 65 to take a two-stroke lead

Tricity golfers dominated the third round at the Rs 1 crore Haryana Open at the Panchkula Golf Club. Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh shot the lowest score of the week at seven under 65 to take a two-stroke lead at 15 under 201, while another professional from Chandigarh, Jairaj Sandhu, finished in second place with 68.

Honey Baisoya (66) and Abhinav Lohan (69) of DLF Golf & Country Club, who shared third place at 12-under 204, were also strong contenders going into round four.

The other two Chandigarh players in the top 10 were Yuvraj Sandhu, who finished in sixth place at 10-under 206, and Angad Cheema, who tied for 10th place at eight-under 208.

Om Prakash Chouhan (71), who leads the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking, was also tied for tenth.

The winner of his last two championships, Akshay Sharma (68-68-65), made excellent use of the memories from his 2020 victory at Panchkula Golf Club on Friday. After making three pars and a bogey on his first four holes, 33-year-old Akshay picked up the pace with three birdies. His last mistake on the ninth was his second bogey of the day.

With two second-place results in the previous three tournaments, Sharma, who is now ranked seventh on the PGTI money list, was on fire on the back nine, making six birdies to take the solitary lead. On the third day, Akshay converted six times between ten and twenty-five feet.

Jairaj Sandhu, a 26-year-old left-hander who is tied for the halfway lead with a score of 66-69-68, got off to a fantastic start, holing a 40-yard putt on the third hole and converting a 30-foot birdie on the second. In pursuit of his first-ever victory, Jairaj added another birdie on the ninth, but his back nine was much different, with three birdies and three bogeys.

With one top-10 finish this season, Jairaj, who is now ranked 44th on the PGTI merit list, said, “I dropped just two bogeys over the first two days and today I dropped three.” That was the distinction. Round three had far too many mistakes. I’m going to try to play the last round in the same manner as the first and second.

Shankar Das of Kolkata shot 71, including a hole-in-one on the second hole. Tie for thirty-first place at three-under 213.

Of the two amateurs who made the cut, Umed Kumar finished higher. In a tie for 47th place at two over 218.