October 5th 2012, Mumbai, India: Shamim Khan of Delhi climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a fiery four-under-66 in round three of the CG open 2012. Shamim’s total score now reads 11-under-199. Rashid Khan, another Delhi golfer, is placed second as he trails Shamim by one stroke.
Shamim Khan (65-68-66), who was overnight tied second, enjoyed a good start to the day as he picked up a birdie on the first. However, a couple of missed chip-putts led to bogeys for Shamim on the second and seventh. A 10-feet birdie putt on the par-3 eighth got him back to level-par for the day. From there on, the 34-year-old, made further breakthroughs with birdies on the 11th and 16th and a spectacular eagle on the 18th. He sank a 25-footer on the 11th and a 20-footer on the 18th which gave him the lead.
Shamim, the current Rolex Rankings leader, said, “I had a brilliant day with the putter. I got my rhythm going after the 10-feet birdie putt on the eighth. Unlike round two, I putted really well on the back-nine today. The 20-feet eagle putt on the closing 18thhelped me finish the day as the leader and did a lot for my confidence going into the final round.That putt was a tricky one as the ball had to travel first uphill and then downhill.”
Rashid Khan (69-65-66), moved up from overnight tied fourth to second place after posting a 66 on Friday. He got off to a flying start in round three with birdies on the first, second and fourth holes.The 21-year-old dropped a bogey on the eighth but did well to end the day with birdies on the 17th and 18th. His total now stands at 10-under-200.
“I made some really good chip-putts today. I landed my chip shots within a foot for birdies on the fourth and 18th and within two feet for par saves on the 11th, 12th and 14th. I also sank a 30-footer for birdie on the second.I finished tied fifth at the CG Open last year so I would like improve on that finish this time around,” said Rashid, who has won at the BPGC whenhe played on the junior circuit.
Vinod Kumar (69-65-67) of Delhi made a move from overnight tied fourth to tied third after a round of 67 on Friday. After making two birdies and two bogeys on the front-nine, Vinodpicked up the pace on the back-nine with three birdies. He closed the day with a total of nine-under-201.
Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta (65-66-70), the round two leader, slipped to tied third in round three after returning an even-par-70 that included three birdies and three bogeys.
Kolkata’s SSP Chowrasia lies fifth at seven-under-203.
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