Leader Ribhav Verma may have failed to reproduce his opening two-round heroics, but his even-par 72 ensured he stayed ahead of the field on the third day of the IGU Hyderabad Amateur Golf Championship at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The 18-year-old from Panchkula took his three-day aggregate to nine-under 207, three shots ahead of Parth Raman Sood (70). Anshul Mishra, like the leader, had a poor day in the office for his level-par 72, and slipped to third place at five-under 211. Order of Merit leader Deepak Yadav got into contention after a strong three-under 69.
Verma’s game lacked the strength for the better part of the round. He began with a double bogey after hitting his 4-iron tee shot into the left hazard on the first hole.
Ribhav Verma shoots 69 to widen lead, Anshul trails by four shots on a tough scoring day
The teenager, searching for his first amateur victory, did pick up a shot on the second with a 10-footer putt. However, bogeys on the seventh hole (missing a nine-footer) and an unfortunate lip out on the 11th reduced his lead to one shot.
But before much damage could be done, a late flourish, he recorded a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th hole, helped Verma take a three-shot lead into the final round.
Sood was solid with his ball striking
Sood, 18, who has played full-time on the amateur circuit in the last two years, mixed four birdies with two bogeys for his third straight sub-par round. He was unlucky to see his par putt lip out on the second and found the water on the left on the sixth hole with a 2-iron tee shot. Despite the two setbacks, the Noida youngster was solid with his ball striking.
Despite an eagle three on the seventh hole, Mishra struggled with his approaches, often leaving himself long putts. The three dropped shots on the fifth, 10th and 12th spoilt his card a bit.
Leading scores (after 54 holes): 207: Ribhav Verma (66, 69, 72); 210: Parth Raman Sood (69, 71, 70); 211: Anshul Mishra (68, 71, 72); 212: Deepak Yadav (72, 71, 69); 216: Gulfam Hussain (73, 72, 71), Kritansh Kapoor (72, 73, 71), Aakash Nakhre (73, 71, 72).
