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Lahiri moves to top, Khan now tied 2nd
As soon as Rashid Khan bent to feel his ankle after the first hole tee-off, it indicated an ominous day for the overnight leader. Rashid continued nevertheless, but lost much of his aggression and ended the third round of the PGTI Players Championship with a three-over 73 score and slip to tied second with Vinod Khan. Both have an accumulated score of nine-under 201.
As soon as Rashid Khan bent to feel his ankle after the first hole tee-off, it indicated an ominous day for the overnight leader. Rashid continued nevertheless, but lost much of his aggression and ended the third round of the PGTI Players Championship with a three-over 73 score and slip to tied second with Vinod Khan. Both have an accumulated score of nine-under 201.
Rashid was not the only one from the leader group to bungle. A sudden dip in form saw Rahil Gangjee have a roller-coaster day while Vijay Kumar - an old horse in the Indian circuit - completely lost the plot. Bangalore's Anirban Lahiri, however, remained unperturbed and carded his second successive five-under 65 to take the lead with an accumulated score of 12-under 198.
Gangjee and Jyoti Randhawa are tied fourth with an accumulated score eight-under 202.
For Lahiri, a five-under score provided the momentum as he sunk four birdies on the front nine and added two more on the 15th and 16th before his only bogey of the day came on the 17th. He sunk a 25-feet putt for the birdie on the first and followed that up with an enormous 35-feet putt for birdie on the fourth.
Had it not been for a bogey on the 17th hole, Lahiri would have had a four-stroke lead. But he was not alone. Both Khan and Gangjee floundered at that hole, with the latter's drive hitting the one of the trees lining a bend on the fairway.
"That was a bad shot," said Gangjee later. "Especially when I had got such a good birdie in the hole before," he said.
Shamim Khan (seven-under 203), Mukesh Kumar (six-under 204) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (five-under 205) are placed sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. SSP Chowrasia is tied 32nd at five-over 215.
