Chawrasia retains lead

SSP Chawrasia retained the lead in the European Tour Indian Open after carding a two-under 69 in Saturday’s third round.

The Indian went into the round leading Rahman Siddikur by a single shot after staying bogey free in the first two rounds to card scores of 65 and 67.

On Saturday he kept up the bogey-less run until the 17th hole, where he two putted for his first dropped shot of the tournament.

“I feel great. I missed a few putts but I’m still happy. I missed my eight iron on the 17th hole, and if not I would have still been bogey free,” he told the European Tour website.

“I want to think and play positive on the final day. The final round is always special so I will play aggressively.

“I played my own game and I am not thinking that I’m playing match play. If anyone is coming closer, let them – I just want to focus on my own game.”

The two-time European Tour winner took his overall total to 12-under and stretched his lead over Siddikur to two shots after the Bangladeshi carded a one-under 70 on Saturday.

Siddikur carded birdies on the first, 13th and 18th holes, but a double bogey on the 15th prevented him for overtaking Chawrasia. He was happy to remain in contention going into the final day.

“It was a good day. I had a nice rhythm and picked up a couple of shots until the double bogey,” he said.

“I managed to recover well and made a great par save on 17, and then managed to birdie the last so overall I am happy with one under today.

“The birdie at the last was very important. Anything can happen in this game – I am looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can play the way I did on Thursday.

“I tried not to look too much at what SSP was doing today – I tried to focus on my own game and keep hitting the greens in regulation and try to make some birdie putts.”

Marcus Fraser is third on seven-under after carding a four-under 67 on Saturday, while Daniel Chopra and Prayad Marksaeng are tied for fourth after a six-under 65 and a two-under 69 respectively.