Flawless Rashid stays in contention

Dhaka, April 5 

Rashid Khan fired a superb 4-under 67 in the third round to stay in contention at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open here today.

Khan, who has not won a tournament since 2014, took his total to 16-under to stay two shots behind leader Sadom Kaewkanjana at the $350,000 Asian Tour event. Overnight leader Kaewkanjana shot a 3-under 68. The 20-year-old Thai, a former All India Amateur winner, is making his first start on the Asian Tour after coming through the Qualifying School in December. 

India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu returned with the day’s best card of a 6-under 65. He made six birdies, including four in a row from the 11th hole, to stay six shots behind the leader. Viraj Madappa shot a 71, with two bogeys on the back-nine, to be 10th at 

8-under. Karandeep Kochhar shot a 70 after a rollercoaster round to be 11th at 7-under.

Jeev Milkha Singh (71) is tied-34th alongside Veer Ahlawat (74), while Honey Baisoya (72) is tied-41st. 

Missed chances

Despite shooting a flawless round, which included two birdies and an eagle, Rashid Khan said he had a relatively “off” day, and his hitting was “bad”. “I was struggling to find the fairways and greens. I didn’t take advantage of my birdie opportunities,” Khan said. “It was tough out there. It started raining on the last few holes,” he added.

The highlight of the day for Khan was the eagle — his first of the tournament — on the par-5 14th. He hit the second shot to the front edge of the green and holed a 25-footer for eagle from the fringe. 

“I finished well. I had an eagle on the 14th and a birdie on the 15th. Overall, it was fine. I made a couple of up-and-downs,” said the winner of two Asian Tour titles. 

Khan, however, admitted that catching Kaewkanjana would be tough. “Sadom has been playing very well. Hopefully, I can change something,” he said. — PTI