Rohana snatches lead at PGTI Players Championship

PANCHKULA - Anura Rohana of Sri Lanka fired a 69 to become the round three leader at the Aircel-PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club Saturday.

Rohanas total stood at eight under 208. Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh and Kolkatas Raju Ali Mollah were tied second at seven under 209.

Rohana (71-68-69), who was overnight tied third, began his round in great fashion as he made eagle on the opening hole. He holed his second shot (sand wedge) from 60 yards on the first. A bogey followed on the seventh but birdies on the eighth and ninth more than made up for that lapse.

The 36-year-old from Colombo played a steady back nine, making birdie on the 15th and a bogey on the 17th.

Rohana said: “The eagle at the start set the tone for the day. I then reaped the benefits of hitting it extremely close on a few holes. The direction of the wind towards the end of the day also turned out to be favourable to me.”

Rohana, who has two professional titles to his name but has never won on the Aircel-PGTI, added: “I am excited about entering the final round as the leader for the first time in India. I won a tournament earlier this year in Colombo and that victory has done wonders to my confidence. I will therefore try to attack the pins on the final day in order to push for a win.”

Ranjit (65-71-73), the overnight leader, dropped to tied second place as a result of his modest round of one over 73. Ranjit made two birdies against three bogeys and managed to hang in there despite some ordinary putting.

“I have not done well with the putter over the last two days. It is very important to putt well in the last stages of a tournament and I made 32 putts today which was just not good enough,” said Ranjit.

Raju Ali Mollah (70-69-70) shared second place along with Ranjit at seven under 209. Rajus third round 70 featured an eagle on the fifth, three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey.

Sujjan Singh (72-72-66) of Chandigarh returned the best score of the day and therefore made his way up the leaderboard from tied 12th to fourth at six under 210. Sujjans round of 66 included eight birdies and two bogeys. He had an astonishing run of four consecutive birdies from the 15th through the 18th.

Gaurav Pratap Singh was a further stroke back in fifth place while Gaurav Ghei and Mukesh Kumar were in tied 14th at three over 219.