MUMBAI, January 17: Shiv Prakash of Kanpur fired the day's best round of 67 to share the top spot with overnight leader Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) at the end of the third day of the BPGC-ANZ Grindlay's Golf Open being played at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club course today. Shiv started well, firing birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to finish his forward journey with a card of two-under which he maintained till the 13th hole. However, he had some anxious moments after dropping shots on the 14th and 15th. But he survived the scare and came back firmly, finishing his return journey with three consecutive birdies.``It was my best day in the tournament so far. I was not putting well but fortunately, I was hitting well,'' said the 38-year-old, who won a 14-inch Onida colour TV for finishing with the best return round on a tie-break over the last three holes against Binod Panday.
Mukesh probably had his worst day. His performance today was a far cry from his fine cards of 67+64 of the first two days.
Hedropped shots on the eighth, 10th and 11th holes before double-bogeying on the 13th and 14th. ``Nothing seemed to go right for me today. Especially the two double bogeys messed up things,'' he said.
Amritinder went five over today which saw him slip from third to sixth place on the rankings.
Day One's hero Pappan (Delhi) had an even par-round today to aggregate 207 along with Pandey. Pandey too had a very good day today, finishing with the day's best along with Shiv Prakash. The day saw as many as eight sub-par scores. Arjun Singh (68) is now placed third with an aggregate of 208. Feroz Ali of Delhi also had a sub-par score of 69 today. He finished with an aggregate of 209 and is placed fourth.
Leaders (after 54 holes): 205-Shiv Prakash (68+70+67), Mukesh Kumar (67+64+74); 207-Pappan (63+74+70), Binod Pandey (67+73+67); 208-Arjun Singh (70+70+68); 209-Feroz Ali (72+68+69); 211-Rafiq Ali (71+70+70); 212- Amritinder Singh (66+71+75); Arjun Atwal (71+70+71); Vijay Kumar (69+75+68); 214 - Rohtas Singh
(70+76+68); Ali Sher (68+72+74).
Gurunath maintains lead: Gurunath (Chennai) fired a course-par of 70 to maintain his first position on the third day of the Classic Stripes Western India Amateur Golf Championship at the BPGC today. He took his aggregate to 212 after 54 holes of the 72-hole event.
Leading positions: 212-B Gurunath (72+70+70), 216-Jaideep Patwardhan (74+70+72), 220-Harmeet Kahlon (78+70+72), Digvijay Singh (68+76+76), 223-L Silvadurai (78+ 73+72), Sheeraz Kalra (76+74+73); 224- Amit Luthra (76+74+74), Rahil Gangjee (76+74+74).
Harsh leads: Captain Kailash Harsh leads the field in the Western India Senior golf championships with a round of 79. He is followed by Ranbir Sidhu with a card of 80.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
