Panchkula: Sri Lankan Mithun Perera shot a scorching eight-under 64 to wrest the initiative in round three of the Haryana Open 2011 presented by Vatika, HUDA & PGC. Perera opened up a massive nine-stroke lead on Friday as his total moved to 18 under 198. Ashok Kumar, who shot a 68 in the third round, is placed a distant second at nine under 207.
Mithun Perera (68-66-64) set the Panchkula Golf Club on fire with nine birdies and a bogey in the penultimate round. The short and stocky 24-year-old from Colombo built on his overnight two-stroke lead with the help of some booming drives and fabulous approach shots. Perera, playing his first season as a professional, accumulated four birdies on the front nine (first, third, fifth and eighth). He landed his chip within a few inches of the hole for birdie on the eighth.
Mithun carried on the good work on the back nine as he birdied the 11th and 12th to go six under for the day. A bogey on the 13thdid not deter him since he came back with a hat-trick of birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th. Perera produced a magical second shot from 100 yards out on the 16th where his ball ended up just three feet from the pin. He converted his longest putt of the day, a 20-footer for birdie, on the 17th. Mithun thus ended up with his lowest score on the Aircel PGTI and the lowest score of the tournament so far, an eight under 64.
“I am high on confidence this week since I’ve been driving well and hitting it well with the wedges. I used the pitching wedge to great effect today as I hit some fantastic approach shots. I also made a few good chip-putts from the edge. Whenever I felt the pin position was not too tough, I attacked the pin.
“I was rewarded for my consistency in all departments of the game as I hit 17 fairways today and made 24 putts. I’ll now look to stick to the basics in the final round,” said the ever-smiling Perera, who is now eyeing his maiden professional title.
Ashok Kumar (70-69-68) leapfrogged from overnight tied seventh to second place as a result of his 68 in round three. The Delhi golfer made six birdies against a double bogey on Friday to be placed nine strokes adrift of the leader.
Mukesh Kumar (66-70-72), who was Perera’s nearest challenger at the start of round three, had a forgettable day after he fired a 72 to drop from overnight second to joint third. Mukesh made six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on the closing 18th on day three.
Chiragh Kumar (71-70-67) of Delhi, who fired a 67 to make a creditable move up the leaderboard from overnight tied 16th and Bangalore’s Abhishek Jha (68-69-71) joined Mukesh Kumar in joint third at eight under 208.
Feroz Ali Mollah and Md Islam share sixth place at seven under 209.
