Vijay shoots into lead

PUNE, Dec 13: Consistency is the name of the game. Those who maintain it, are the ones who reap the harvest. Lucknow pro Vijay Kumar showed...

PUNE, Dec 13: Consistency is the name of the game. Those who maintain it, are the ones who reap the harvest. Lucknow pro Vijay Kumar showed why he heads the Order of Merit on the recently released Professional Golfers Association (PGA) India list as he ran up a three-under-68 which helped him take the mantle of sole leader in the Classic Western India Open tourney at the Poona Club course today.

The score thus helped Vijay (210) open up a three stroke advantage over second placed joint overnight leader Shiv Prakash (Kanpur) who managed an two-over-68 today.

Vijay drove well and topped it with steady putting, to round off the back-nine with a two-under-33, which basically was due to the two birdies he logged on the par-5 7th — which he two putted, and the 356-yard par-4 8th.His back-nine was more impressive, with an entire par round. A bogey on the 17th being the only blemish, which however was neutralised by the birdies which he achieved on the 13th and 15th.

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For Shiv Prakash, Dinesh Raghuvanshi (Pune) and Feroz Ali (Calcutta) the day was a topsy-turvy day , of which the latter carded the best score of two-over-73 which pushed himself to second place with an aggregate of 213.Dinesh failed to bring back the form and went three-over for the day. Rohtas, who trailed the leaders by a stroke, managed the only eagle of the day on the 494-yard par-5 7rd. Feroz otherwise had a disappointing day after enjoying two days at the helm of affairs, with a disappointing five-over-76 after he began with a bogey-birdie combination for the first four holes.Scores (After 54 holes, par-213)

Professionals

Vijay Kumar (Lucknow; 68, 71, 71); Shiv Prakash (Kanpur; 73, 68, 72); Dinesh Raghuvanshi (Pune; 74, 67, 73); Rohtas Singh (Delhi; 73, 68, 73); Mukesh Kumar (Mhow; 68, 73, 73);Feroz Ali (Calcutta; 76, 71, 69); Ali Sher (Delhi; 72, 71, 74); Yusuf Ali (Calcutta; 74, 71, 73); Amit Chopra (Delhi; 75, 70, 74), Gast Ram (Delhi; 72, 75, 72).

Amateurs

Jaideep Patwardhan (Pune; 74, 74, 77); Amish Jaitha (Pune; 73, 74, 79); Manish Jaitha (Pune; 73, 77, 80), Sandeep Phalnikar (Pune; 78, 76, 77).