Gaganjeet Bhullar made the great charge with a sizzling seven-under 65, the best card of the day, but Thai veteran Prayad Marksaeng fired a majestic six-under-par 66 to open up a commanding five-shot lead over the field at the end of the third day in the inaugural USD 750,000 Chiangmai Golf Classic here today.
Bhullar's 65 took him to 11-under 205, while Digvijay Singh, lying tied second overnight slipped to tied fourth after a battling round of two-under 70, that put him at 12-under after a finishing bogey on par-5 18th. Digvijay, however, is still the best placed Indian among the five left after the cut.
Shiv Kapur (68), Anirban Lahiri (68) and Himmat Rai (70) were all tied 26th at eight-under in the low-scoring event.
Adding to the drama was Thongchai Jaidee, who needs a win to qualify for the Masters next month.
Thongchai fired a 69 to move to 13-under, alongside Australia's Matthew Stieger, but they are five shots behind Prayad.
Digvijay is tied fourth with Marcus Both (65), Anton Haig (66), Kiradech Aphinabarnrat (66), Scott Hend (67) and Y E Yang (67).
"I didn't have the best start. I hit it close on the second and fourth holes but I wasn't reading the greens correctly today. I just didn't get the speed of the greens right. Then I hit it really good. Hit it to about six feet on the 10th hole and it was a 'given' birdie on 11," Digvijay said.
"I made a great par on 17 when I hit it over the green and into thick rough but managed to get it out to about two feet. Overall it was a good experience playing with Thongchai Jaidee. The last time I played with him was as an amateur at the 1995 Nomura Cup in New Zealand.
