JOIN US In the bargain, Jha took control of the proceedings as he carded a two-over 74 to take the lead after the third round of the LG Tamil Nadu Open Amateur at the Coimbatore Golf Club here on Thursday.
In what can be called a successful card under the prevailing course conditions, Jha took his three-day total to six-over 222 to stay three shots clear of the second-placed Rashid, who submitted a card of three-over 75 for the third consecutive day.
After taking the turn at one-under, Jha’s dismal ride on the back nine pegged him back as he bogeyed the 10th, 17th and 18th. “Despite a 74, this was a better round compared to my first round of one-under,” he said.
Karan Vasudeva clawed his way back to third place after carding a one-over 73 for an aggregrate score of 11-over 227, while overnight joint leader Aditya Bhandarkar lost his way with a miserable 12-over 84.
Siddharth Sharma shot the day’s best card, a level par-72, to tie for the sixth spot at 229 along with Pritam Haridas and Pawan Kumar.
Top scores (after 54 holes): 222: Abhishek Jha (71, 77, 74); 225: Rashid Khan (75, 75, 75); 227: Karan Vasudeva (78, 76, 73); 228: Rahul Bajaj (79, 76, 73), Samresh Sardar (72, 78, 78); 229: Siddarth Sharma (75, 85, 72), Pritam Haridas (78, 77, 74), Pawan Kumar (78, 74, 77); 230: Jasjeet Singh (74, 79, 77); 232: Gagan Varma (72, 77, 83), Aditya Bhandarkar (74, 74, 84); 233: Arshdeep Tiwana (84, 71, 78), Moin Malak (79, 78, 76).