Mardan Mamat
Niall Turner closed day three at the Panasonic Open (India) in a share of 15th place following a round where he continued to show an ability to pick up birdies, with a total of five on Friday, to finish 2 under par.
A double bogey on the par three 5th was the first bit of trouble in round three, and birdies on the 3rd, 7th and 8th ensured the Muskerry golfer reached the halfway one under par. Then two consecutive birdies on the last two holes helped limited the damage on his card of a dropped shot on the 12th, with Turner signing for a 70 - and three under par total.
Singapore’s Mardan Mamat posted a three-under-par 69 to take the third round lead on 15-under-par 201 total at the inaugural Panasonic Open (India) and promised not to let his legion of fans down on Friday.
Mardan’s title aspirations will be put to the test with the Indian brigade led by Anirban Lahiri piling on the pressure. Lahiri posted a 68 to trail the Singaporean by three shots to take second place on 204 while Manav Jaini carded a 67 to take third place after signing for a 205 total.
Eight-time Asian Tour winner Jyoti Randhawa, Himmat Rai and Mukesh Kumar are bunched in equal fourth on 207 at the newest US$300,000 event on the Asian Tour which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
Mardan, a two-time Asian Tour winner, is 18 holes away from ending a five-year title drought and hopes to reward his supporters with a long awaited win at the Delhi Golf Club.
Mardan’s fans have been very vocal with their support for him with encouraging messages being posted on the Asian Tour facebook page, urging Singapore’s number one golfer to fulfil his true potential by winning this week’s inaugural event.
“I know everyone back home is hoping that I play well and go on to win. I’ve been in this position so many times and I should be able to handle it on the final day,” said Mardan who enjoyed a bogey-free round with three birdies on holes four, eight and nine.
Mardan believes that the key to returning to the winner’s circle is to stay focus and concentrate on his own game.
“I think everything tomorrow will be about me and nobody else. I can’t be distracted and think what the rest of the field is doing. It got to be only me and focusing on playing one hole at a time,” said Mardan.
“I’m pretty pleased with how I’ve played the last three days. This is where I won my first Asian Tour title and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow,” added the Singaporean.
First round leader Lihiri also had another performance of his own to savour.
The 23-year-old marked his card with a birdie on the sixth hole before adding another three in his outward-nine, including a closing birdie which gave him sole possession of second place.
“I shot a four-under with 33 putts at the Delhi Golf Club which is fantastic. I could have shot a better score but I’m not looking too far into that,” said Lahiri.
“I’m happy with the way I’m hitting the ball. I concentrated and focused well today and I’m looking forward to the final round tomorrow,” added Lahiri.
Jaini also kept up the pressure on the Mardan and Lahiri by matching his second round 67 to keep himself in contention for his first win on the Asian Tour.
Starting the day in fifth place, the 28-year-old Indian got off to a blistering start on the front-nine by mixing four birdies against a lone bogey to reach the turn in 33.
Jaini then continued to birdie hole 12 before closing with another birdie on the par-five 18th.
“Anything can happen on this golf course and I’m just trying to go out there and play my game. I had two solid rounds and if I can play like this, I should be in the hunt,” said Jaini.
“This is my home course and I’m glad that it has been kind to me for the last couple of events that I’ve played here. There’s one more day to go and if I can pull off another good round, who knows,” added the Indian.
India’s sports minister, Honorable Shri. Ajay Maken from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will be present for the prize presentation ceremony on the final day at the Delhi Golf Club.
Panasonic, the worldwide leader of electronic product manufacturers, has committed to the title sponsorship in India as an extension of the brand’s involvement with professional golf in Asia as it also hosts the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Japan, a tournament jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
