Angad Cheema in action during the third round of the Telangana Open golf tournament in Vikarabad on Thursday. (Photo by arrangement)
Vikarabad: Angad Cheema stayed on course for his fifth DP World PGTI title and sixth win overall after shooting a seven-under 65 to retain his two-shot lead following the third round of the Telangana Open on Thursday. The 36-year-old Chandigarh golfer Cheema (70-61-65), who began the day two shots ahead after producing a career-low 11-under 61 on Wednesday, moved to 20-under 196.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (66-67-65) matched Cheema’s 65 while playing alongside the leader to remain second at 18-under 198. Rashid kept the pressure on throughout the day with eight birdies against a solitary bogey on the par-four 17th.
Cheema’s eventful round featured an eagle on the par-five 16th, eight birdies and three bogeys. With Rashid repeatedly closing the gap, Cheema responded with enough birdies of his own to preserve the overnight advantage.
The leader made four birdies over the front-nine. He then added four more birdies and the crucial eagle on the 16th but also conceded three bogeys on the back-nine. On the 16th, Cheema struck his second shot with a six-iron to about five feet before converting the eagle putt. Despite two three-putts on the back nine, Cheema was encouraged by his work on the greens and the overall state of his game heading into the final round.
Jairaj Singh Sandhu (71-68-63) made the biggest move of the day, firing the tournament’s lowest third-round score of nine-under 63. He climbed 17 places from tied 20th to third at 14-under 202, six shots behind Cheema.
Delhi’s Honey Baisoya (72-65-66), currently seventh in the DP World PGTI Rankings, shared fourth place at 13-under 203 with Greater Noida’s Arjun Sharma (70-66-67).
First-round co-leader Akshay Sharma (65-70-69) of Chandigarh was tied sixth at 12-under 204 alongside Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (68-68-68), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion.
Gurugram’s Manu Gandas (65-71-69) shared eighth place at 11-under 205 with Nepal’s Subash Tamang (74-65-66), Uganda’s Joshua Seale (70-66-69) and Gurugram’s Dhruv Sheoran (68-67-70).
Current DP World PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar (72-68-71) was tied 29th at five-under 211.
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