SCORESHEET
Day 2
Day 1


September 4th 2009, Bangalore: Mohd Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh hung on to the lead at The Global Green Bangalore Open 2009 (an Aircel PGTI event) with yet another tenacious effort of three under 69 at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course on Friday. Rahman now has a total of seven under 209. Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh ended the day in second place as he too fired a 69 to be placed one stroke behind Siddikur.

Siddikur Rahman (71, 69, 69) fired his second successive 69 of the tournament to become the top contender for the title. Siddikur, who is currently ranked 20th on the Aircel PGTI Order of Merit, was in tremendous hitting form in round three. He set up easy birdies with great approach shots on the third and fifth to consolidate on his overnight lead. On the par five fifth, his third shot (lob wedge) came up just three inches short of the pin. A bogey on the eighth meant he made the turn at one under.

Rahman gained another stroke on the 11th with a superb bunker shot that stopped just about 10 inches short of the hole. He then missed a five-footer for par on the 12th and therefore dropped a stroke. But Rahman rallied with birdies on the 13th and 15th to close the day at three under.

“I hit it much better today as compared to the previous rounds. My tee shots and approach shots set up some relatively easy birdie opportunities for me. My putting confidence was also quite high as I made a 12 feet birdie putt on the 13th. Importantly, I did not make any three-putt today,” said Siddikur.

He went on to add, “I now hope to post my first win on the Aircel PGTI this season. I have had two top-20 finishes on the Asian Tour this year and those performances have given me loads of confidence. My aim in round four would be to just concentrate on my goal and not take too much notice of the leaderboard.”

If Siddikur was in good hitting form, Ranjit Singh (70, 71, 69) was hot with the putter. Ranjit’s 69 in the penultimate round helped him end the day in second place. The Chandigarh golfer produced five birdies against two bogeys on Friday. The highlights of his third round were an excellent bunker shot on the 11th that led to a birdie and two long birdie putts on the 16th and 18th.

Ranjit said, “Today was probably my best putting performance in a long time. I made 26 putts in all in round three. I also had a really good bunker shot on the 11th that lipped out. Another moment that stood out was my good recovery after finding the water hazard on the eighth. The conditions were not easy as it was hard to concentrate with the intermittent rain.”

He added, “I’m playing in the leader group on the final day for the first time in over a year. I want to make the most of this opportunity by continuing with my good putting form.”

Bangalore-based professional Anirban Lahiri (72, 70, 70) is third at four under 212 while Harendra Gupta is a further stroke behind in fourth.

Bangalore’s C Muniyappa is tied sixth at even par 216. Mukesh Kumar shares eighth place at one over 217 with another Bangalore golfer, R Srinivas.