The second edition of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational Presented by TAKE Solutions headed towards a fascinating finish as multiple contenders emerged on day three of the Rs. 1.5 crore event at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday.
The TATA Steel PGTI Order of Merit leader Rashid Khan of Delhi, who has been in devastating form this season, staked a claim to his fourth title of the year with an error-free five-under-67 that propelled him to the top of the leaderboard at 14-under-202.
Chandigarh's Ajeetesh Sandhu, fresh from a recent joint runner-up finish on the Asian Tour, also fired a 67 to join Rashid Khan as the co-leader.
Karandeep Kochhar will be the second Chandigarh player in the leader group on Sunday since he closed round three in third place at 13-under-203. Kochhar, the runner-up last year, returned a steady 71 in the penultimate round to keep himself in the race.
Rashid Khan (71-64-67), who matched the course record of 64 on day two to move within three of the lead in tied third, didn't concede a shot for the second straight day.
Khan, the winner of PGTI's last event in Chandigarh in May this year, had a slow start on Saturday but then gradually built the momentum.
Rashid sank three long birdie putts on the fifth, eighth and 12th, the last being a mammoth 40-footer. The 28-year-old then made a couple of brilliant chip-putt birdies on the 16th and 17th.
Khan said, "It was a good ball-striking day for me and I'm happy to go bogey-free once again. The long birdie conversion on the 12th was the highlight of my round. I did really well to hang in there and keep myself in the game despite the slow start.
"On the front-nine I grazed the hole on a few occasions as I couldn't read the speed of the greens. However, on the back-nine I was much better as I made all one-putts except on the last hole where I two-putted."
Ajeetesh Sandhu (66-69-67), also lying tied third and three off the lead at the halfway stage, enjoyed a solid day with a top-notch 67 that raised local hopes.
The 31-year-old wasn't at his best on the front-nine where he made a birdie and a bogey each. But on the back-nine he turned it on with five birdies including four on the last six holes.
Sandhu, the highest-ranked Indian on the Asian Tour so far this year as he is placed 15th, landed it within inches of the flag to set up tap-in birdies on the 14th and 17th.
Karandeep Kochhar (65-67-71), who was in the lead for the first two days, slipped to third place in round three after a sedate 71.
Kochhar, like Ajeetesh, began the day with a three-putt bogey on the first. The after recovering well with a great par-save on the second, Karandeep collected two more birdies on the sixth and 12th courtesy his precise approach shots.
Sri Lankan Mithun Perera, the overnight joint leader along with Kochhar, dropped to fourth place at 11-under-205 after his 73 in the third round.
Akshay Sharma (66) and Aadil Bedi (68) were the other two Chandigarh players in the top-10. Akshay occupied sixth at nine-under-207 while Aadil was a further shot back in seventh.
Gurugram-based Manu Gandas shot the best round of the day, a seven-under-65, to move into tied eighth at seven-under-209. Among the other players bunched in tied eighth were Indian star Jyoti Randhawa (69) and Bengaluru's Viraj Madappa (71).
Rory Hie (69) of Indonesia, the leading foreign name in the field, was in tied 20th at five-under-211.
Reigning champion Chikkarangappa (76) of Bengaluru was placed tied 40th at one-over-217.
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