Coimbatore, April 4 (IANS) Noida’s Amardip Sinh Malik fired a three-under 69 to surge ahead on day three of the PGTI Players Championship at the Coimbatore Golf Club here Friday with a three-day total of nine-under 207 that placed him one shot ahead of the rest.
Delhi’s Naman Dawar posted an even-par-72 to lie second at eight-under-208.
Malik (70-68-69), in pursuit of his maiden title, climbed from overnight tied fourth to pole position thanks to a clinical 69 Friday. Malik began with five pars and earned his first birdie of the day with a 10-feet conversion on the sixth.
The 28-year-old then found the par-5 10th green in two shots to pick up another stroke. A chip-putt for birdie on the 13th took him to three-under but a misjudgment on the 14th led to his only bogey of the day.
Malik, who had ended 2013 in 19th place on the Rolex Rankings, sank another birdie on the 15th to emerge as one of the top contenders for the title.
Malik said: “My ball-striking has been good this week even though I’ve missed a number of putts. I had a terrific second-nine on day two that helped me consolidate my position on the leaderboard.
“We haven’t encountered the typical Coimbatore wind so far this week, but nonetheless it was more windy today as compared to the last two days.
“I bogeyed the 14th after misjudging the direction of the wind. I’ve not had a great start to the year since I had to withdraw from two events due to a neck injury. But I’m now recovering from the injury and would like to make an impact on the season.”
Dawar (68-68-72) produced a fighting 72 on Friday to end the day in second position. Dawar, who was overnight tied second, double-bogeyed the first and bogeyed the fourth to drop three strokes on the first four holes.
He regained some lost ground with chip-putt birdies on the ninth and 13th. However, Dawar suffered another setback when he double-bogeyed the 15th as a result of a poor tee shot. The professional from the Delhi Golf Club did well to come back once again with birdies on the last three holes.
Chikkarangappa S of Bangalore and Kolkata’s Feroz Ali Mollah were in tied third place at seven-under 209 while Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, who was overnight tied second, is now in fifth place at six-under-210.
The Delhi duo of defending champion Rashid Khan and round two leader Kapil Kumar were in tied 11th spot at three-under-213. Kapil shot a 79 to slip down the leaderboard on Friday.
Leading Scores: 207 – Amardip Sinh Malik (70-68-69); 208 – Naman Dawar (68-68-72); 209 – Chikkarangappa S (71-69-69), Feroz Ali Mollah (72-66-71); 210 – Om Prakash Chouhan (68-68-74).
