17-year-old Bengaluru golfer Manoj S posted a third-round score of five-under 67 and clinched the lead with an overall score of nine-under 207 after the end of the third round at the PGTI Rs 1 Crore Trident Open being played at Chandigarh Golf Club.
Manoj, who is 17 years, seven months and 26 days old, is now in contention to become the youngest player to win as a professional on the PGTI Tour. Chandigarh golfer Shubhankar Sharma currently holds the record of the youngest player to win a PGTI title as a professional with the PGTI Cochin Masters in 2014 at the age of 17 years, eight months and 22 days.
Manoj, who was in third place after the end of the second round, started the third round with birdies on the second and fourth holes before making bogey on the fifth hole. Manoj then missed a birdie opportunity on the seventh and ninth holes to finish the first nine with a three-under 33. The back nine saw Manoj make bogey on the 11th hole before sinking three consecutive birdies on the next three holes. Manoj then made bogey on the 15th hole before sinking a birdie on the final hole. “I’ve come into this event with good form over the past few weeks, all thanks to my great ball shots. I executed a lot of tees that created opportunities for me. Today also I was very consistent with my swing. The birdie on the 14th gave me a big boost when my tee shot hit the flag. It was one of my best shots this week. I will treat the final round as another round of golf and try not to get ahead of myself on the final day. This approach has helped me,” Manoj said after the third round. So far, I will look forward to continuing in this vein.”
Overnight co-leader Manu Gandas finished second with a third-round score of three-under 69 and an overall score of eight-under 208. Chandigarh golfers Yuvraj Sandhu and Akshay Sharma along with Shubham Jaglan, Shaurya Bhattacharya and Mohammad Azhar finished third with an identical total score of five-under 211 each.
(Tags for translation)Manoj SP GTI Trident Open
