New Delhi: Australian Wade Ormsby survived a nightmarish front nine to keep a one shot lead over Lam Chih-Bing (73) at the end of the third day of the Panasonic Open India 2013. Ormsby is eighth-under 208, while Lam is seven-under 209 and the top Indian now is local DGC lad, Shiv Kapur, who battled to a even par 72 and shared the third spot with veteran Boonchu Ruangkit (73).
Ormsby, who opened with a birdie, just as his playing partner Lam Chih-Bing (73) did but then bogeyed four of times over the next eighth to drop from the lead. But the tenacious Aussie still looking for his maiden win on Asian tour, birdied the last hole to take sole possession of the lead, just as Lam Chih-Bing, crumbled on the back with four bogeys in last five holes.
Ormsby has held at least a share of the lead since the first day, when he and Singaporean Lam shot 67 each. Lam at one stage was threatening to win away at three-under for the day and 11-under for the tournament with five holes to play. But then things unraveled for him, while Ormsby held his nerve.
The Delhi Golf Club, always a challenging course with its narrow fairways, has been made even more difficult with swirling and windy conditions that have made scoring extremely tough at the third Panasonic Open India this week.
Even as leaders struggled in the wind, which has been a feature for the last three days, Jyoti Randhawa played a flawless five-under 67 and two other local DGC lads, Manav Jaini (68) and Shamim Khan (67) made the charge on the moving day, with handsome gains on the third day.
Randhawa describing his round as one the best he has played in more than a year, moved from one-over for two days to four-under for 54 holes and leapt from tied 22nd to sole fifth. Jaini, who has come close to his breakthrough win at this very club at least twice, rose from tied 22nd to the sixth spot, which he shares with defending champion Digvijay Singh, who played a third straight one-under 71, and was the only player with three sub-par rounds.
Shamim Khan, the No. 1 golfer of 2012 on Indian PGTI Tour, also catapulted up the leaderboard with a 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys. Now lying tied tenth, Shamim admitted, “I was not finishing well earlier on. I made double bogeys on the 17th and 18th in second round and thought I might miss the cut. But today’s round was better as I finished well with birdies on the last two holes. I also had 15 regulations today and was solid with my iron shots landing the ball pretty close.”
SSP Chowrasia (77) had a horrendous round with a five-over 77 that included four bogeys and one double bogey and just one birdie on eighth. “It was probably my worst round at the DGC,” said Chowrasia, who had a double on the last.
Kapur battled to an even par 72 and then likened the conditions to the ones that are generally seen at the US Open. He laughed and said, “It’s like the US Open conditions out there. I have never seen conditions like this at the DGC. Not even during an practice days. Par seems a good score in these conditions.” A huge cricket fan that he is, Kapur quickly rushed off to see the IPL cricket match in town. “I need to relax,” he said with a laugh.
Ormsby said, “I started fantastic but my putter was a bit dry today and I hope to get it going again tomorrow. I hit it pretty solid in my back-nine and I’m feeling good as it was kind of surprising to see myself leading at the end.”
He added, “The pressure’s always mounting, that’s golf. It’s just how you deal with it. I just wasn’t making the putts. But you just got to keep going on this golf course and see where you finish up. Straight up the hill, right to left and you shouldn’t miss them. It was definitely a sign of relief when I birdied that hole. My putter was frustrating me a bit and it was overall a tough day.”
Lam, who has a win on the Indian Tour in 2007, a year before his only Asian Tour title, was relieved to stay on in contention despite a collapse at the end.
He said, “I’m in contention and I’m in a pretty good position. I’m thrilled as it has been a while and although it was a rough finish, I’m still in it. I definitely had some positives that I could take out of today and I need to work on my finishing as it hasn’t been that great.”
He added, “Even though I missed a few putts coming in, the strokes were solid. It’s probably more a misread than anything else. I’m not going to dwell on what has happened the last few holes. I’m still in it and I look forward to tomorrow.”
Kapur, who has been in good form of late, added, “I was a little frustrated and angry after my poor start. I had a bad swing on the third that resulted in the double bogey. At that stage I told myself not to quit as it would just take a few birdies to be back in the game.
“I got two birdies on 12th and 14th and I got lucky on the 18th as my second shot rebounded off the marquee and landed back in play. I capitalized on that lucky break and earned a birdie with a good chip.
My local knowledge will give me a one shot advantage over the others on the final day. I have no target for the final round as in such windy conditions one has to play every hole on merit. Par on a hole is a good score here.”
