Bengaluru: In-form N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka, feeding off his recent successes on the PGTI, produced a brilliant five-under 66 in round three to establish a commanding five-shot lead at the INR 1 crore Bengaluru Open 2025 Powered by IndianOil being played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course in Bengaluru.
Thangaraja (66-65-66), the overnight leader by one shot, moved his total to 16-under 197 that gave him a comfortable advantage over the rest of the field and saw him emerge as the clear favourite for the title.
Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar (69-66-67), Gurugram’s Manu Gandas (70-63-69) and Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa (65-67-70) were bunched in tied second place at 11-under 202.
Khalin Joshi was the highest-placed among the Bengaluru-based players as he occupied tied eighth position at eight-under 205. Khalin shot the day’s joint lowest score of 65.
Defending champion Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, fired a 71 to be placed tied 19th at five-under 208.
Noida’s Kanav Chauhan (72), the only amateur to make the cut, was placed tied 31st at one-under 212.
N Thangaraja, currently third on the PGTI Order of Merit with a win and a runner-up finish to his credit over the last three events, began the day on a solid note sinking a couple of 20-footers for birdies on the first and third holes. Thangaraja, a two-time winner this season, had a minor setback when he three-putted for bogey on the fourth hole. Thanga’s top-class hitting helped him collect four more birdies thereafter.
Thangaraja said, “After the good start today, I had a blemish on the fourth hole, but importantly I did not lose focus and came back well thereafter. It was my best putting day so far this week. I also hit 15 greens in regulation.
“I feel I’m in a good space at the moment with consistent performances over the last few weeks. I’ll look to continue playing the same way in the fourth round by sticking to the process and not thinking too much about the result. The important thing for me is to not get complacent as a result of the big lead and instead focus on each shot.”
Mohd Azhar’s 67 lifted him four spots from his overnight tied sixth place. Manu Gandas’ 69 helped him rise one spot from his overnight third place.
Viraj Madappa, who was sole second after day two, ended the penultimate round in tied second along with Azhar and Manu.
