Abu Dhabi India’s Jeev Milkha Singh is hanging on with an overall tally of four-under going into the final day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Singh, who had finished the second round on one-over par on Friday, started round three with two birdies on the first and third but later conceded the edge after a bogey on the fifth. In the back nine, he managed two more birdies on the 12th and the 18th but it was split by bogeys on the 14th and 17th.
“I started off well but struggled with my putting yesterday and today. Yesterday my putting let me down, I mean 32 putts and normally a professional golfer makes under 30 putts and shot one over. Today shot one under but kept it going. I could have made lot of putts,” said Singh, who missed birdie opportunities on six, eight, 13 and 15.
“Overall, I would say I’m happy as my driving is getting better and that’s a very big thing. At least I can see the ball up in the air and my distance also. From here on, I think the result’s going to get better,” said the 43-yr-old, who felt he needed to be more sharp on his putts. “I’m rolling it well but to hold putts you got to be sharp and hopefully, I will get a low one tomorrow,” added Singh.
Singh’s compatriot and rookie Anirban Lahiri lost some ground on day three after impressing in the second round, which saw him settle for four-under. The 27-yr-old, had three birdies on the front nine at holes two, four and nine. However, in a bizarre back nine, he double bogeyed twice on 11th and 13th which dented his progress severely. Thankfully, a birdie on the last hole allowed him to finish the round on par.
While Korean Byeong-Hun An was the best amongst the Asian golfers with a score of nine under, his compatriot YE Yang improved on his showing from the first two day to go seven under. The credit of that surge goes to his four birdies on the back nine which erased the poor start on the front where he had bogeyed twice.
Chinese young prodigy Guan Tianlang, however, was all at sea when it mattered most. The 16-yr-old, who was sitting pretty on five under, squandered all his advantage and ended up a disappointing six over after an error filled round three – which also included two double bogeys on the 7th and 13th.
