E-Paper
Late revival takes Vijay to the summit
Vijay Kumar found himself in a tricky situation on Friday --- dropping a shot on the 14th and then landing his tee shot in the woods with just an acute angle between the trees to reach the fairway.
In sports, the ability to survive under pressure can decide the eventual champion.
Vijay Kumar found himself in a tricky situation on Friday --- dropping a shot on the 14th and then landing his tee shot in the woods with just an acute angle between the trees to reach the fairway. A second blunder would have meant two successive bogies but the 42-year-old got himself out of trouble with a 20-feet putt on the par-4 15th.
An eagle on the final hole then took him two shots clear of the chasing pack as he registered his second successive five-under-65 on the penultimate day of the CG Open.
Overnight leader Rafick Ali Mollah and Mandeo Singh Pathania were tied second at nine-under-201.
Despite the confident finish, Vijay would have been disappointed with the score since he had birdied the first four holes and looked good to break the course record of seven-under set on the first two days at the Bombay Presidency Golf Course.
"I dropped both the shots on the par-3s. That is unacceptable. I was over-hitting on those holes. Thankfully, the eagle on the 18th helped me wrest back the initiative and the pressure will be on the chasing pack to attack," said the Lucknow pro, who also had a bogey on the 8th.It turned out to be an indifferent day for the other con tenders as well. With two birdies and three bogeys, Rafick finished the day at one-over-71 while Pathania nullified his five birdies with three bogeys.
Karanjit Singh Sandhu was fourth at eight-under 202 while Mukesh Kumar, Sujjan Singh and Harendra Gupta were joint fifth at seven-under 203.
