For the second straight day, the tough conditions played havoc with the golfers, and the scores. The sun was out for the most part alright, but the wind was really blowing the whole day to blow some of the big names down the leaderboard on the third day of the $2.5-million Emaar-MGF Indian Masters on Saturday.
For South African Ernie Els, the Delhi Golf Club reminds him of home. Feeling out of place on the first two days, the world No 4 was more at home in the third round and proved why he is ranked so high in the world with a three-under-par 69 score, the best card of the day at the par-72, 7,014-yard course.
More or less ruled out of top honours after two dismal days, Els' Saturday heroics brought him right back into contention. The 'Big Easy' was just four strokes off the pace in tied tenth spot with a cumulative score of two-under-par 214.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (72) hit the front with a six-under-par 210 aggregate. Overnight leader Damien McGrane (75) succumbed to the swirling winds to drop to the tied second spot with Graeme McDowell (73) and Jose Manuel Lara (71), a stroke behind the leader. Kolkatans Arjun Atwal and SSP Chowrasia could so easily have had a share of the lead, but two bogeys on the closing holes spoilt their cards a bit. Nevertheless, the two Indians were still within striking distance, two strokes (212) off the pace in tied fifth spot.
Two other Indians, Gaurav Ghei (70) and Digvijay Singh (74), were tied for the tenth spot and still in with a good chance to give the Indian Masters a truly Indian ring to it.
Best chance
Atwal probably had the best chance to do that on Saturday. He got off to a birdie start to the round and went two-under with a six-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth hole. The spectators who followed the off-colour and freefalling Jyoti Randhawa (75) early on, stayed back to watch Atwal's charge.
Sadly, Atwal undid all his good work on the long 230-yard par-3 seventh. He pulled his 3-iron tee-shot to the left and the stiff crosswind carried it even further. He duffed his chip and then chipped and two-putted for a double bogey five. But Atwal put that behind him and was rewarded with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. He drained a 12-footer on the 10th and sank a four-footer after nailing the pin with his second shot on the 11th.
Unfortunately, back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th saw him slip back a bit.
Chowrasia, nicknamed 'Chip-Putt' for his brilliant short-game, paraded his skills on the front nine. He holed a 10-footer on the first hole and holed his chip from the bunker on the third hole. He double bogeyed the 10th after a hooked drive into the left jungle and dropped another shot on the 15th after finding the jungle again on the left with a 5-iron tee-shot.
Good show
The diminutive pro roared back with back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. He had a good chance to sign off with another on the 18th, but three-putted from four feet for a bogey six.
Barring the 14th hole, where he had an eagle, Jacquelin struggled with his putter. He birdied the fifth alright, but that was set up by a brilliant tee-shot on the par-3 third. He had bogeys on the 10th, 11th and 17th in his even-par round.
Scores (after 54 holes): 210: Raphael Jacquelin (Fra, 69, 69, 72); 211: Jose Manuel Lara (Esp, 68, 72, 71), Graeme McDowell (N Ire, 69, 69, 73), Damien McGrane (Ire, 67, 69, 75); 212: SSP Chowrasia (Ind, 70, 71, 71), Arjun Atwal (Ind, 70, 70, 72); 213: Ross McGowan (Eng, 72, 71, 70), Maarten Lafebar (Ned, 69, 71, 73), Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA, 69, 69, 75); 214: Ernie Els (RSA, 75, 70, 69), Gaurav Ghei (Ind, 75, 69, 70), Ross Bain (Sco, 71, 71, 72); Benn Barham (Eng, 69, 71, 74), Thomas Bjorn (Den, 68, 72, 74), Digvijay Singh (Ind, 70, 70, 74).
Other Indians: 217: Randhir Singh Ghotra (74, 73, 70), Jyoti Randhawa (65, 77, 75); 220: Ashok Kumar (72, 73, 75), Amandeep Johl (73, 71, 76); 222: Shiv Kapur (68, 78, 76); 223: Shamim Khan (73, 74, 76), C Muniyappa (69, 77, 77); 225: Rahul Ganapathy (76, 71, 78), Ali Sher (77, 70, 78); 228: Harmeet Kahlon (70, 75, 83).
