Ghei pulls two shots clear in weather-hit Macau Open; Mann tied 6th

Add as a preferred source on Google

Macau, May 19 (UNI) India's Gaurav Ghei is in superb position to lift his second successive Asian Tour title when he pulled two shots clear in the rain-curtailed third round of Macau Open here today.

Ghei, winner of last month's Pine Valley Beijing Open, is ahead of the chasing pack on 11-under-par for the 300,000 dollar tournament through 11 holes of his third round when heavy rain at Macau Golf and Country Club forced the suspension of play.

Today Ghei played flawless golf, firing in as many as four birdies while his compatriot Gurbaaz Mann was tied sixth with a seven-under after 12 holes.

The other Indians in the fray, Rahil Gangjee was tied for the 26th spot with six more holes to go while Digvijay Singh and Arjun Singh, both shared the 36th place after 15th and 12th holes respectively.

Young gun Gaganjeet Bhullar was lucky to make the cut but six other Indians -- Harmeet Kahlon, Sujjan Singh, Uttam Mundy, Fiorz Ali, Amritinder Singh and SSP Chowrasia were all failed to make the cut after another disappointing day.

Ghei was delighted to find himself atop the leaderboard of the 10th Macau Open, thanks to a blistering outward nine.

He rolled in lengthy putts for birdies to pull clear of the field. ''I had a really good start and it was unfortunate that we had to sit out for the rain to go away. I'm pretty happy with the way I'm playing but it's still a long way to go,'' he said.

Luck favoured Ghei when a wayward drive on the second hole escaped the water hazard and he went on to birdie the hole. ''I got lucky on two when I pushed my driver right but I hit it solid that it carried the hazard.

''From making a bogey, I turned that into a birdie. Then I holed a 15 footer on six and holed a 40 footer on eight and then another 25 footer on nine,'' said Ghei, who was on the 12th fairway when play was suspended at 1.40pm, and eventually called off for the day.

Only 10 players finished their third rounds while the remaining 57 players in the field will return on Sunday early morning to complete their remaining holes.

Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei veteran Lu Wen-teh, who shot three birdies in 12 holes and second round leader Richard Moir of Australia, who was one-over through 11 holes was joint second.

In an attempt to complete 72 holes on Sunday, organisers will retain the pairings for the final round so that the players will go straight out after completing their third rounds.

UNI