SCORESHEET
Day 2
Day 1

October 31st 2009, Jamshedpur: Shamim Khan of Delhi raised hopes of his title defence at the 8th TATA OPEN when he posted a four under 66 to emerge as the joint leader in round three on Saturday. Pune’s Gurki Shergill, who continued to be at the top of the leaderboard for the third successive day, currently shares the lead with Shamim at 11 under 201, courtesy of a two under 68 in the penultimate round. Sujjan Singh occupies third place at eight under 204.

After the cut was made at six over 148 on Friday, the field was restricted to 54 professionals and two amateurs. On Saturday the entire field played nine holes each on both the courses Beldih as well as Golmuri. While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri. Twenty-nine golfers with the best scores at the end of round two teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 70. This format will also be followed in the final round on Sunday.

Shamim Khan, Round 3 joint-leader

Shamim Khan (65, 70, 66), who was overnight tied second, began round three in great fashion, making birdies on the first two holes and on the seventh to be three under at the turn. He then dropped his first and last bogey of the day on the 10th only to come back stronger with birdies on the next two holes.

“I had an extremely good birdie-birdie start thanks to some accurate approach shots that left me a couple of relatively comfortable birdie putts. The best birdie of the day, however, came on the 11th, where I hit my seven iron second shot from 162 yards to within four feet of the pin,” said Shamim.

He added, “I really enjoy playing at Beldih and Golmuri and have always fancied my chances here. I’ll try to make maximum fairways and regulations in the final round. The idea would be to make a watchful start and then decide at the halfway stage whether to play steady or go for the pins, keeping the leaderboard in mind.”

Gurki Shergill (64, 69, 68), played well on the first nine and like Shamim made the turn at three under, having collected birdies on the first, fourth and ninth. He then suffered a major setback when he dropped a double bogey on the 10th. But birdies on the 12th and 16th helped him recover lost ground and even though he bogeyed the 17th, he managed to end the day as the joint leader.

“I had a good front nine today and almost made a hole-in-one on the ninth, where my five iron tee shot came up just six inches short of the hole. But I made a disappointing double bogey on the 10th, having pushed my tee shot right of the green. Two long drives earned me birdies on the 12th and 16th that helped me get back into the game,” said Gurki.

The 30-year-old went on to add, “I would just like to have fun in the final round tomorrow and in the process if I earn a big fat cheque it would be a bonus.”

Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh is three strokes behind the joint leaders (eight under 204) in third place. Sujjan shot a one under 69 in round three.

Gurbaaz Mann, Rafick Ali Mollah and Mohd Siddikur Rahman share fourth place at six under 206 while Mukesh Kumar and Vikrant Chopra are a further shot behind in tied seventh.

Karan Taunk, an amateur from Jamshedpur, is tied ninth along with Vinod Kumar at four under 208.

Jamshedpur’s Navtez Singh is placed tied 17th with an overall score of even par 212.

Courtesy: Nikhil Kalaan