Ahlawat shoots 69 to remain T-6th, Nakajima stretches lead

PTI

Gurugram, March 30

Veer Ahlawat kept himself in the hunt at the Hero Indian Open by being sole sixth as Japan’s Keita Nakajima shot a 68 to double his lead after the third round at the DLF Golf & Country Club here today.

This being my home course helps. I mean I know which side of the green to miss so that I won’t drop a shot. It was a solid round. I hit the ball well, my putting was good. Veer Ahlawat

Ahlawat maintained his sixth position with a 69 — his third straight round in the 60s — as he remained the top Indian among the eight who had made the cut after the second round on Friday.

Ahlawat has a three-day aggregate of 12-under par 204 and is six strokes behind leader Nakajima, who stretched his lead from two to four shots after the third round to be currently at 18-under. He mixed five birdies with two dropped shots as he made good use of his familiarity with the course, capping his round with a closing birdie before a packed gallery.

“This being my home course helps. I mean I know which side of the green to miss if I miss it, so that I won’t drop a shot. It was a solid round. I hit the ball well, my putting was good. My bunker play was also in shape today. I started a little slow but finished on a high note. Tomorrow, I am going to try to stay focused, try to go low,” said Ahlawat.

Nakajima may have fallen short of the 65s that defined his first two rounds, but his 68 was good enough to make him the favourite in the $2.25 million tournament.

Nakajima, playing his rookie season on the DP World Tour, is chased by Malaysian Gavin Green, who was the runner-up at this event in 2017. Green opened the week with a modest 72, then shot a 66 in the second round and flew past all but Nakajima with a 64 in the third for a tied-2nd place.

India’s Manu Gandas returned an incident-packed 2-under 70 for a share of 13th place on 8-under par 208, while Aman Raj was next best at 6-under par 210 with cards of 68-68-74 to be T-24th.

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