Rahul Ganapathy surges ahead in round three

Gurgaon, Feb 1 (UNI) A second consecutive 67 helped Rahul Ganapathy climb to the top of the leaderboard on day three of the Solaris Chemtech Open Golf Championship here today.

Rahul five under 67 took his total to nine under 207. He had shot 73 and 67 in his first two rounds.

S S P Chowrasia, the round two leader, dropped to second place after shooting level par 72. Australian Craig McLean shot 66 to record the best round of the day. He currently occupies the third place.

Rahul parred the first eight holes before sinking a birdie on the par five ninth. On the back nine, Ganapathy came up with some scintillating golf as he made birdies on the 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th. He also dropped a bogey on the 17th.

Overnight leader Chowrasia fell back to second. His scores of 67, 69 and 72 took his total to eight under 208. The Kolkata golfer's third round included three birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

He was two under at the turn after picking up birdies on the fifth and ninth. He then went one over on the 16th after dropping a double bogey on the par five 14th and a bogey on the 16th. However, Chowrasia's birdie on the 18th helped him pull back one stroke.

The best round of the day was registered by Australian Craig McLean. His superb 66 placed him third with a total of six under 210. McLean sank birdies on the first, second, fifth, 14th and 16th before closing with an eagle on the par five 18th. The Australian dropped a lone bogey on the 10th.

Digvijay Singh, Anura Rohana, Vijay Kumar and Gaganjeet Bhullar are tied fourth and five under 211. Ashok Kumar is in tied eighth with a total of three under 213.

Mukesh Kumar (72, 72, 73) finished round three in tied 15th with a total of one over 217. Rahil Gangjee (74, 69, 74) is also tied 15th. Gaurav Ghei (77, 71, 74) is placed tied 28th at six over 222.

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