Baisoya in control; Mane hot on his heels

Bengaluru, November 17: Another solid round, and a fifth title in sight. On that note Delhi’s Honey Baisoya ended the third day of the Bengaluru Open Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association.

Unlike the second day the leaderboard did not witness any major changes, as Baisoya held onto his lead, while Udayan Mane remained hot on his heels. Starting the second day with a comfortable three-shot cushion, Baisoya dropped only one-shot to turn in a card of five-under 67 for a total of 18-under-198 on Friday.

Sizzling Baisoya equals course record; grabs sole lead

But unlike the previous day, the penultimate day of the inaugural event turned out slow and troublesome for the 21-year-old. Baisoya was caught on the wrong foot as he started the day with a bogey on the third. But Baisoya jumped right back into the game as he notched up five back-to-back birdies from the fourth till the eight hole.

In contrast to his fast-paced and scoring front nine, the back-nine was equally slow and frustrating for Baisoya. Taking the turn, Baisoya’s trouble started from the very onset as the pro found himself in hot water on the 10th hole. But true to his form this season, Baisoya walked away without dropping a shot and parring the hole. From there on the Delhite struggled to get going as he carded only one birdie apart from playing out an even par back-nine. Ending the day Baisoya managed to hold onto a two-shot lead, though Mane was breathing down his neck after a sizzling third round.

Baisoya, who has never won an event at the KGA, always lurking in the shadows as the runner-up, was not at all a happy man at the end of the third round. “I was four-under after the first eight holes and I failed to capitalise on the start. I am not at all happy with my round today. On the back nine I just failed to make the putts. I was stroking my putts well but wasn’t able to read the lines.

“I will need to post a score of five to six under to have a good chance tomorrow. It will be a well contested final round as both Udayan and myself are high on confidence. We both have two titles to our names this year. So I’m hoping for the best,” said the leader.

Moreover, Baisoya, who is currently placed fifth on the Order of Merit list, would be keen on pocketing the title and jump up the money list. “I’m keen to win this week as I’ve not won a big prize money event and also I’ve never won here at the KGA,” said Baisoya, who turned pro five years back.

While Baisoya was not content with his round, Udayan Mane was on fire on the said day, as the 26-year-old turned in the day’s best joint score of six-under, along with four others including, Mukesh Kumar, Digvijay Singh, Arjun Prasad and N Thangaraja.

Mane, for whom KGA used to be his home course, until recently after he shifted base to Ahmedabad, used his years of knowledge of the course to come up with a solid 6-under-66 to end two-shots behind the leader with a total of 20-under-200.

Unlike Baisoya, Mane had a quiet front nine with his only birdie coming on the ninth hole. Taking the turn the 26-year-old fired five birdies to turn in an error free card on the day.

It will surely be a contest of equals on the final day with both golfers in top form, and desperate to win the Rs. 1 crore event.

While the duel between the two have taken the centre-stage, seasoned pro Harendra Gupta, crept one rung up to take third place on the leaderboard. Turning in a card of five-under-67, Gupta finished four shots behind Mane. But bringing his experience to the fore, the nine-time winner might spoil the party on the final day.

Meanwhile on the local front, Bengaluru’s M Dharma ended the penultimate day tied fourth along with round one leaders Himmat Singh Rai and Shamim Khan. And further down the leaderboard tied for seventh place was localite Rahil Ganjee.

@chikkarangappa 72-hole course record of 13-under-275 at #KGA set during last year's #TAKEOpen now likely to be broken by this week's champion at #BengaluruOpen Golf Championship sponsored by #KarnatakaTourism @KarnatakaWorld @baisoyahoney #UdayanMane

— PGTI (@PGTITOUR) November 17, 2017

Round one leader S Chikkarangappa meanwhile was tied ninth with a total of eight under-208 along with local pro Khalin Joshi. The duo will have to pull out an extraordinary round to even think about making a charge for the title as they head into the final day, ten shots behind the leader. Though right now that seems like a distant dream.

Also for Chikka, his course record is at stake. The Karnataka golfer who holds the 72-hole course record of 13-under, which he set last year at the Take Open can be broken on the final day of the Bengaluru Open.

Scores:

198: Honey Baisoya (67+64+67)

200: Udayan Mane (69+65+66)

204: Harendra Gupta (68+69)

206: M Dharma (67+70+69); Himmat Singh Rai (66+71+69); Shamim Khan (66+72+68)

207: Mukesh Kumar (68+73+66); Rahil Gangjee (70+68+69)

208: S Chikkarangappa (66+72+70); Khalin Joshi (69+70+69); Mithun Perera (71+68+69); Digvijay Singh (71+71+66)

209: Sujjan Singh (66+70+73); Anura Rohan (66+74+69)

Key Tee Times:

9:00am: Khalin Joshi, S Chikkarangappa, Mithun Perera

9:20am: Himmat Singh Rai, M Dharma, Shamim Khan

9:30am: Harendra Gupta, Udayan Mane, Honey Baisoya