Flawless Gangjee stays second in King’s Cup
By IANSSaturday, December 5, 2009
KHON KAEN - Indian golfer Rahil Gangjee, who is struggling to save his 2010 playing rights, put himself in title contention with a bogey-free 68 in the third round of the Kings Cup, the final tournament of the Asian Tour season, here Saturday.
Gangjee, who came here sitting precariously in 63rd place on Money List, sank four birdies against no bogeys to stay in second place for the second day running at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club.
He was tied with five others after two rounds, now he was tied for second with only Thailand-based Scot, Simon Yates, who carded a 66 including a seven-hole stretch with six birdies from 10th to the 16th.
Gangjee was two shots behind Chinese Taipeis Chan Yih-shih, who with a five-under 67 stayed in lead for the third straight day. Chan had five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in his round.
I came in today feeling more confident and I have been hitting the ball and putting the ball very well. Two months ago I wasnt scoring but now Im beginning to score and that has been the difference, said Gangjee.
I didnt expect to be in this position but Im going to use the most of it. Im not going to do anything different and just play my game one shot at a time, said Gangjee.
Two other Indians, who were tied with Gangjee for second after two days, slipped down a little. Anirban Lahiri dropped to tied sixth with a round of 71, that saw him make a great recovery with an eagle and a birdie over last four holes. He was seven-under 209 and one shot behind him was Harmeet Kahlon (72) in tied eighth with two others. Kahlon had four each of birdies and bogeys.
Digvijay Singh shot a 69 and leaped up from tied 32nd to tied 14th at four-under 212, but Chinnaswamy Muniyappa (74) dropped from tied 11th to 19th. Gaurav Ghei had a nightmarish round after a birdie on third hole. He dropped six shots with four bogeys and one double bogey and no birdies for a 77 that saw him slip from tied 11th to 36th.
Firoz Ali (74) was tied 51st at four-over 220 and Manav Jaini (79) slipped to 69th from overnight 52nd.
Chan Yih-shin produced a superb back nine performance to open up a two-stroke lead after the third round. Chan romped home in 32 en route to a five-under-par 67 to lead the $300,000 Asian Tour event on 12-under-par 204.
