On a day that saw many shuffles on the leader board, overnight leader Jasjeet Singh kept his cool and played another sub-par round of one-under 70 to grab sole lead at four-under 209 after the third round of Royal Challenge Amateur Golf Championship, being played at the par 71Poona Club Golf Course, three shots ahead of his nearest competitor and elder brother Simarjeet Singh.
Gagan Verna, who led the field on day one and shared the spotlight with Jasjeet after day two, carded a three-over 74 to be placed at tied third with three other players at level par 213.
The day stared with an hour long delay due to the thick early morning fog. But as the weather cleared up, the competition got serious. Amongst those who moved higher on the leader board were Ajeetesh Sandhu, local favourite Jaideep Pathwardhan and Chirag Kumar. While India's top ranked junior Ajeetesh overcame a bad start of back to back bogies on the second and third with birdies on the fifth, 15th and a chip in for an eagle on the par four ninth to finish two-under for the day and tied third at level par 213 for the tournament, Jaideep carded a level par round with three bogies and three birdies also to finish at level par 213.
Twenty-year-old Chirag Kumar played a scintillating round with birdies on fifth, 10th, 11th, 14th and 17th and bogies on 7th and 12th to card the day's lowest round of three-under 68 to join Gagan Verma, Ajeetesh and Jaideep for tied-third.
For Jasjeet Singh, the 25-year-old GAIL employee, the day started with a bogey on the par three second where his putt for par lipped out of the cup.
Another bogey followed at par four sixth but he finished the front nine at even par for the day with birdies on the par five seventh and par four ninth. He kept the form going with birdies on the 10th, 14th and 15th but lost two more strokes with back to back bogies on the 16th and 17th to finish the day at one under.
"I started badly and didn't hit too many greens today but my putting was solid and saved the day for me", said the Noida Golf Course golfer, who took only 28 putts to finish his round.
On the other hand, Simarjeet, the three-time Sri Lankan Open champion, played a very consistent round with just one bogey on the card to finish at one-over 72 and one-under 212 for three days to be placed sole second. His bogey came on the par-four 17th where his second shot landed just short of the green and missed a three foot putt for an up and down.
"I played well but my putting just didn't work for me today. I missed some small putts for conversion today," is what the 29-year old had to say for his round today.
With the leaders packed together and in form, to say the least, the final day of the Royal Challenge Amateur Golf Championship is surly poised for a thrilling finish.
Scores (after 54 holes): 209_Jasjeet Singh (70,69,70); 212_Simarjeet Singh (69, 71,72); 213_Jaideep Patwardhan (72,70,71), Ajeetesh Sandhu (73,71,69), Gagan Verma (66,73,74), Chirag Kumar (72,73,68); 215_Amardip Malik (71,69,75); 217_Vikram Rana (75,72,70); 218_Gaganjeet Bhullar (73,69,76); 220_Keshav Misra (75,78,69); Manav Jaini (74,73,73), Anitya Chand (71,74,75).