Sandhu climbs to tied-15th in Indian Open

Ajeetesh Sandhu reclaimed his position as the top Indian golfer, rising 10 places to a tie for 15th after the third round of the Hero Indian Open here on Saturday.

Sandhu, who was tied for 4th after the opening round, carded a 2-over 74 in Round 3, which included three birdies and five bogeys, to take his total to 4-over par. This lifted him from his overnight tied-25th spot.

Last edition’s runner-up Veer Ahlawat stood at 5-over, tied for 18th. He also shot a 74, with two birdies, including one on the 18th, but also two bogeys and a double bogey,

At the top of the leaderboard, Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra, 25, fought his way to a 1-over 73, taking a one-shot lead over Japan’s defending champion Keita Nakajima (74) and South Africa’s Brandon Stone (71). England’s Matthew Jordan (73) and Sweden’s Jens Dantorp (73) were a shot further behind at 1-under.

Sandhu played even-par on the front-nine, but three bogeys in five holes between the 10th and 14th hurt his progress.

However, he regained some composure with two birdies and one bogey over the final four holes.

Bhullar slips

It was a disastrous finish for Gaganjeet Bhullar (78), who closed with two consecutive bogeys and a triple bogey, falling from a top-10 position to tied-33rd.

If Chacarra wins, it will be his first DP World Tour title, while Nakajima will become only the fourth player ever to have won back-to-back titles at the Hero Indian Open.

Japan’s Kenji Hosoishi (1967 and 1968), and India’s Jyoti Randhawa (2006 and 2007) and SSP Chawrasia (2016 and 2017) are the only players to have defended their title.

Stone has not had a win against his name since his third DP World Tour title in 2018 in Scotland while the fourth placed Dantorp and Jordan have not won on the DP World Tour.