Stroke of genius

Perhaps it was the big cheers from a group ahead on the sixth hole.

Perhaps it was the big cheers from a group ahead on the sixth hole. Or the little glance he stole at the scoreboard on his way to the ninth tee. Whatever inspired Jyoti Randhawa8217;s sudden burst of form, it was enough to completely turn the third round around at the DLF Masters.

The defending champion8217;s three-under 69 put him at seven-under 209, two shots in front, as overnight leader Gaganjeet Bhullar8217;s double-fumble left him tied second with Shamim Khan. A rainy morning forced Saturday8217;s play to start four hours late, and once the leadergroup had teed off in the afternoon8217;s hazy sunshine, Randhawa took his own time to get going.

A bad lie of his tee shot meant Randhawa reached the green in three, and then missed the par putt to drop a shot on the very first hole. On the fourth, he was again off key with the driver, hitting the rough across the cartpath on the left. Left with a huge putt, he took three tries to hole. And just like that, Randhawa had fallen two-under for the tournament and three behind Bhullar.

A group ahead, Arjun Singh and Shamim were making their moves, Singh stunning with an eagle on the par-five sixth. But that was when Randhawa took charge, sinking a 25-foot long putt on the par-five ninth for an eagle, a three-foot birdie after his breathtaking second shot on the 10th, and an eight-footer for another birdie on the par-three 11th, going from one-over for the day to three-under, and in joint lead with Bhullar on seven-under.

Bhullar seemed to rise to the challenge, his second shot on the tenth matching Randhawa8217;s stunner and giving him the day8217;s second birdie. But the parity was broken on the par-four 13th as Bhullar finally blinked, his ball brushing tree-tops and getting lodged in heavy rough on way to a bogey.

Disaster came in the shape of a double bogey, 3 holes later. An awry second shot on the 17th was lost in the bushes behind the green, a shot penalty and then a two-putt finish had the 20-year-old suddenly reeling three behind Randhawa. Fortunately for him, the round ended on a positive note as he struck his third shot inches away from the pin on the par-five 18th for a birdie. He finished with a second successive level-par round, totalling five-under 211. Shamim8217;s 69 came with six birdies and three bogeys, and the Delhi player will join Randhawa in the final day8217;s lead group.

Leaderboard

Jyoti Randhawa 209 72, 68, 69; 2 Gaganjeet Bhullar 211 67, 72, 72; Shamim Khan 72, 70, 69; 4 Arjun Singh 213 71, 72, 70; 5 Mukesh Kumar 214 72, 72, 70; 6 Ashok Kumar 215 72, 73, 70; 7 Karanjit Sandhu 216 73, 72, 71; 8 C Muniyappa 218 72, 72, 74; Harmeet Kahlon 68, 76, 74; 10 Shahid Javed Khan 219 74, 74, 71; Rafick Ali 74, 74, 71; Himmat Rai 69, 77, 73; Harendra Gupta 71, 74, 74; Sujjan Singh 76, 69, 74; Ajeetesh Sandhu 70, 74, 75