Sri Lankan N Thangaraja was rewarded for producing the day's best effort of five-under-67 as he grabbed a share of the third round lead at the Kolkata Classic here today.
Thangaraja was joined by Bengaluru golfer Khalin Joshi, who struck a three-under-69 in round three, in tied first place at seven-under-209 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh matched Thangaraja's day's best of 67 to jump into contention in third place just one shot behind the joint leaders at the Rs. 30 lakh event.
Eighteen-year-old Feroz Singh Garewal, another Chandigarh-based professional, achieved the rare distinction of making consecutive eagles during round three.
Thangaraja (71-71-67), who began the day in tied eighth, threw his hat in the ring with an error-free 67 at one of his favoured venues. The Colombo resident, fresh from a tied sixth finish at last week's Indian Open, hit his short-irons and wedges with pin-point precision on Thursday to leave himself four birdie putts within four feet.
Joshi (71-69-69), also a winner of two titles on the PGTI, made a move from overnight tied fourth to joint first thanks to a timely 69. Joshi landed his wedges within a couple of feet for two birdie tap-ins on the front-nine. He also recovered well from the bunker wall to birdie the 15th after a 20-feet conversion.
Sandhu (71-72-67), the winner of PGTI's last event in Hyderabad, will also be a contender on the final day. He made an outstanding eight birdies during his third round, a record for the week so far, to rise from tied 10th to third at six- under-210.
Round two leader Feroz Ali Mollah of Kolkata dropped to tied fourth after his third round of 75. Bengaluru's C Muniyappa and Gurgaon's Shubhankar Sharma shared fourth place with Feroz at five-under-211.
Reigning Indian Open champion and local lad SSP Chowrasia scored a 74 to end the day in tied 35th at four-over-220.
Garewal produced one the highlights of the day when he achieved one of the rarest feats in golf. He sank back-to-back eagles on the eighth and ninth. What made his achievement even more special was the fact that both his eagles were eagle-twos that came on par-4s.
Garewal had just dropped a triple bogey on the sixth but he came back strong when he holed out from 135 yards on the eighth. He then came up with another unbelievable second shot from 165 yards on the closing ninth that once again found the hole.
He ended the day with a 73 to be placed tied 39th at five -over-221.
