Manu Gandas shot a resolute five-under 67 in the penultimate round to regain the advantage at the inaugural Vooty Masters at the Vooty Golf County.
Manu (63-68-67), the first round leader, who had slipped into second place on Day Two, now enjoys a slender one-shot lead at a total of 18-under 198. Currently placed second on the PGTI Order of Merit, Manu raised his hopes of bagging his fifth title this season which would see him equal the PGTI record for most wins in a season currently held jointly by Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (2022), Gaganjeet Bhullar (2009) and Ashok Kumar (2006-07).
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Manu is now also in with a good chance of wresting the Order of Merit lead from Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.
Angad Cheema (65-67-67), who was overnight third, moved into second position at 17-under 199 after he too shot an equally impressive 67 on day three.
Om Prakash Chouhan (66-63-73), the second round leader, carded a sedate 73 on Saturday to drop down to third place at 14-under 202.
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Manu, who set the course record of 63 on Day One, had a steady front-nine in round three making three birdies and a bogey. Manu’s birdies on the front-nine included a good up and down from the bunker on the fifth and a drive that found the par-4 seventh green. He drove the seventh green for the second day running.
Manu, who has five career titles on the PGTI, then collected four birdies and a bogey on the back-nine to move to the top. He picked up strokes on the 12th and 16th to score birdies on all the four par-5s. He left himself a four-footer on the 13th and drove past the green on the par-4 15th to claim his other two birdies on the back-nine. He closed the round with an 18-feet conversion for a tremendous par save on the 18th.
“My driving and tee shots were the best part of my game today. I drove two par-4 greens today and took advantage of all the par-5s. I would say my iron-play was not up to the mark and I made some errors that could’ve been easily avoided.
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“After an ordinary front-nine I had a far more encouraging back-nine today. It’s now about taking it one shot at a time and not looking too far ahead on the final day,” said Manu.
Angad, currently 24th on the TATA Steel PGTI Rankings with three top-10s this season, will be the other main contender in the final round as he kept himself in the hunt with seven birdies and two bogeys on Saturday. Angad, who sank five of his birdies on the back-nine, made some exceptional chip-putts during Round Three.
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“It was not one of my best days but I’m glad that I still managed to keep myself in contention. I got some momentum on the back-nine today which I will look to carry forward into the final round,” said Angad.
Harshjeet Singh Sethie (68) and Gaurav Pratap Singh (69) were placed tied fourth at 13-under 203.
