Ashok maintains one stroke lead

Bangalore, Feb 24 (UNI) Putting a two-under-par 68, leading golfer Ashok Kumar took an one-stroke lead ahead of Rahul Ganapathy, after the penultimate round of the Rs 60 lakh Solaris Global Green Open with an aggregate of 202.

Exuding confidence of lifting the title, Ashok, who had won here in 2004, said he would bring to the fore his best game to clinch the title. However, he was not happy with his putting.

Playing aggressively, Ashok carded back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, but a bogey on the par-four sixth hole where he missed a four-footer for par saw him make the turn at one-under-par, 34. He dropped another shot on the par-four 11th hole which he three-putted from 15-feet, but a birdie on the 13th and a final birdie on the last saw him take an one-stroke advantage.

Rahul shot a four-under-par, 66 in the third round to finish in the second spot. Birdies on the third, fourth and eighth holes left him three-under at the turn and he picked up two more birdies on the back nine, on the 12th and 17th holes. However, a solitary bogey on the par-four 15th hole where he three-putted from just 15-feet saw him card a 66.

SSP Chowrasia had an one-under-par, 69 and was tied for the third place, alongside local professional C Muniyappa at six-under-par, 204, while Digvijay Singh, Anura Rohana, Kunal Bhasin and Vivek Bhandari were a stroke further behind. ''I made birdies, but also made a lot of bogeys. However, I will give it my best shot tomorrow,'' Chowrasia said.

The lowest round of the day was carded by Sujjan Singh, who shot a six-under-par, 64.

Abhishek Jha led the amateur field with a total of 214 after he carded a two-over-par, 72 in the third round today.

Scores after three rounds: Ashok Kumar (64,70,68) 202, Rahul Ganapathy (67,70,66) 203, C Muniyappa (68,68,68) 204, SSP Chowrasia (69,66,69) 204, Digvijay Singh (67,70,68) 205, Anura Rohana (70,67,68) 205, Kunal Bhasin (67,70,68) 205, Vivek Bhandari (67,67,71) 205, Jaiveer Virk (72,69,65) 206, Sanjay Kumar (74,64,68) 206, Yusuf Ali (68,69,69) 206, Mukesh Kumar (75,66,67) 208, Harmeet Kahlon (66,75,67) 208, Shankar Das (68,70,70) 208, Sujjan Singh (69,75,64) 208, Ranjit Singh (68,70,70) 208, Harinder Gupta (71,72,66) 209, Davendra Patel (69,72,69) 210, Ali Sher (71,71,68) 210, Shiv Prakash (70,71,69) 210, Amardip Sinh Malik (72,66,72) 210, Pappan (69,69,72) 210.

UNI