Kolar: Shaurya Bhattacharya carded a one-under 71 to retain a two-shot lead after the third round of the INR 1 crore Kolar Open 2026 presented by ZION Hills Golf County on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
The 23-year-old Delhi golfer, who started the day with a three-shot advantage, followed his opening rounds of 68 and 67 with a 71 to move to 10-under 206. His lead was reduced by one stroke, but he remained on top heading into the final round.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (73-68-67) and Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar (70-68-70) shared second place at eight-under 208.
Cheema made the strongest move among Bhattacharya’s nearest challengers, shooting a five-under 67 to climb into contention. Azhar stayed in the hunt after returning a two-under 70.
Stepan Danek shoots day’s best 63
The Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek (76-70-63) produced the lowest round of the day with a bogey-free nine-under 63 featuring nine birdies.
Danek began with four consecutive birdies from the first to the fourth hole and climbed from tied 14th overnight to fourth place at seven-under 209.
Bangladesh’s Badal Hossain (69-72-69) was fifth at six-under 210, while Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (71-71-69), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, occupied sixth place at five-under 211.
Bhattacharya battles difficult conditions
Bhattacharya had to contend with rain and strong winds, which made the back nine particularly demanding. The three-time DP World PGTI winner struck the ball well but missed two short putts during the closing stretch.
“The rain and strong winds made the conditions difficult, especially on the back nine,” said Bhattacharya. “I hit the ball well but missed two short putts coming home.”
A birdie on the final hole gave Bhattacharya a timely boost and restored his two-shot cushion ahead of Sunday’s final round.
“Finishing with a birdie was important and gave me a positive end to the round,” he said.
Bhattacharya, currently 16th in the season rankings, said he had no plans to change the approach that has kept him at the top of the leaderboard through the first three rounds.
“The plan is to keep finding fairways and hitting greens,” he said. “That approach has worked well over the first three rounds, so I’ll stay with it tomorrow.”
Saptak Talwar seventh, Kaul climbs to eighth
Current DP World PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70), who spent the summer competing on the HotelPlanner Tour, improved from tied ninth to seventh place at three-under 213.
Defending champion Kshitij Naveed Kaul (73-75-66) of Delhi made one of the biggest moves of the day. His six-under 66 lifted him from tied 22nd to a share of eighth place at two-under 214.
Kaul was joined by Panipat’s Shubham Jaglan (70-73-71) and Jaipur’s Prakhar Asawa (71-71-72).
Jaglan arrived in Bengaluru after securing his maiden professional title at last week’s Coal India Open in Kolkata.
