Gaganjeet Bhullar shot a solid four-under 68 to lead by one shot at 14-under 202 after the penultimate round of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2022 played at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday.
Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa S struck a 67 and local favorite Karandeep Kochhar carded an error-free 68 as both players were hot on the leader’s heels in tied second place at a total of 13-under 203 with an exciting finish lying in prospect on Sunday.
Second round leader Abhijit Singh Chadha, another Chandigarh golfer, slipped to fourth place at 11-under 205 after shooting a 72 on Saturday.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-65-68), a winner of 11 international titles, gained one spot from his overnight second position as a result of his steady effort that featured five birdies and a bogey. Bhullar sank early birdies on the first and third from a range of eight to 12 feet. After his bogey on the fourth, Gaganjeet created a few opportunities on the front-nine but could only manage a birdie on the sixth as he missed a few short putts.
On the back-nine, Bhullar made a couple of good par saves and birdies on the two par-5s, 13th and 16th, including a great up and down on the latter, to end the day as sole leader.
Chikkarangappa’s (65-71-67) round featured seven birdies and two bogeys and lifted him two spots from his overnight fourth position. He managed to pull himself out of trouble on a few occasions. Chikka, the 2018 champion, extracted birdies in situations where he found the bunker, trees and the rough.
Karandeep Kochhar (65-70-68), the 2020 champion, brought in a card of 68 to move up one spot from his overnight third place. Kochhar said, “I was quite consistent with my hitting today, making 16 greens in regulation. I was also pleased to be error-free. This gives me a good chance in the last round.”
Among the seven players bunched in tied fifth at a total of eight-under 208 were Chandigarh-based Akshay Sharma and Amrit Lal as well as prominent names Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan and Khalin Joshi.
Among the other big names, Jyoti Randhawa was tied 13th at six-under 210 while Ajeetesh Sandhu and Udayan Mane were both tied 28th at four-under 212. The two amateurs who made the cut, local golfer Brijesh Kumar and Bengaluru’s Aryan Roopa Anand, were both tied 52nd at three-over 219.
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