PANCHKULA, Nov 28 : Bangladesh’s Mohd. Siddikur Rahman shares the third round lead along with Indians Rahul Ganapathy and Gaganjeet Bhullar at the HUDA-GTPL-Unitech Haryana Open at the Pacnhkula Golf Course here today.The trio of Rahman, Ganapathy and Bhullar are placed on top of the leaderboard with identical totals of four under 212. Among the three leaders, Rahman shot the best score on Friday, a three under 69. Kolkata’s Rafick Ali Mollah and Chandigarh-based professional Harendra Gupta are one stroke behind the leaders in tied fourth.
Mohd. Siddikur Rahman (73, 70, 69), who has already registered a win on the PGTI this season, came into contention after shooting a solid 69 in round three. The professional from Dhaka did not begin his third round on the right note as he bogeyed the second and third holes. He then worked his way up the leaderboard by sinking birdies on the fifth, seventh, eighth, 10th and 11th. The 24-year-old followed up this flurry of birdies with a bogey and a birdie on the 14th and 16th respectively.
"My putting was quite good today as I was reading the greens much better than the previous two days. I will now look to play my own game tomorrow and not try to get ahead of myself. My best shot today was the third (lob wedge) on the par five eighth. I landed that shot 10 feet short of the pin," said Siddikur.
Rahul Ganapathy (68, 74, 70) stayed in the hunt on Friday as he made birdies on the fifth, sixth, eighth, 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and bogeyed the first, fourth, seventh, ninth and 18th.
Ganapathy said, "I’m pretty satisfied with my effort today. I played really well as I sank seven birdies but at the same time made a few mistakes. The most disappointing moment for me was the three-putt from eight feet on the seventh, which resulted in a bogey. But the tournament is wide open because there is only two strokes between the top nine players."
Gaganjeet Bhullar (69, 71, 72) joined Rahman and Ganapathy as the joint leader. Bhullar sank birdies on the fifth, sixth, 15th, and dropped bogeys on the first, 16th and 18th.
Rafick Ali Mollah (72, 70, 71) and Harendra Gupta (74, 68, 71) are currently tied fourth at three under 213.Mukesh Kumar, Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, C Muniyappa and Sri Lankan B G Lalith Kumara are tied sixth at two under 214.
Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh, who registered a win in PGTI’s 2006-07 season, currently lies tied 40th at seven over 223.