Ahmedabad: Delhi’s Wasim Khan shot a two-over-74 to hold a one-shot lead in round three of the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2016 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad. Khan’s three-day total stood at five-over-221. Patna-based amateur Aman Raj was placed one shot behind the leader in second position.
Wasim Khan (73-74-74), who was the overnight joint leader, made two birdies against four bogeys on Thursday to stay on top of the leaderboard despite the tough playing conditions. While Wasim sank a 25-feet birdie putt on the 11th and landed it within four feet for another birdie on the 14th, he also made two three-putts for the second day in succession to drop strokes on the 10th and 16th. Khan also missed par putts from within seven feet on the fourth and eighth to total four bogeys for the day.
“My driving and iron hitting has been very good this week but I have struggled with my chipping and putting. I’ve made three-putts on all three days so far. After being three-over through 10 holes today, I made a good comeback with birdies on 11 and 14 but the three-putt on 16 was a huge disappointment. However, it’s quite satisfying to be leading at this stage. The conditions have been tough this week so it would be great to shoot an under-par score in the final round. That would give me a good chance of ending up on top of the pack,” said Wasim.
Amateur Aman Raj made three birdies and five bogeys in his third round of 74 to be placed second at six-over-222.
Noida’s Raju Singh (75) was in third place at seven-over-223 and Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed (77), the joint round two leader, occupied fourth place at eight-over-224.
At the end of round four on Friday, the top 35 players (+ ties) will earn full cards for the 2016 PGTI season.