Jeev Milkha Singh signed for a second successive 68 and overnight leader Joakim Haeggman added a solid 70 to his fantastic opening round of 65 to leave the pair at -8 and -9 respectively, with 18 holes to play. It’s four shots further back to Jyoti Randhawa in 3rd so it will take something special on Sunday for him – or any other players – to challenge the top two.
Both players started on the 10th hole, with Singh in the group ahead of Haeggman, and the home favourite had drawn level with the former Ryder Cup player on -8 through 15 after back-to-back birdies on the 5th and 6th holes. The Swede recaptured the solo lead with an excellent birdie two at the 7th, the only hole he bogeyed yesterday.
Earlier in the round, Haeggman bounced back from his only bogey of the day on 13 with a pair of birdies at 14 and 15. He parred every other hole apart from that late red number on 7.
Like in round one, Singh compiled five birdies and a single dropped shot. Today, he picked up his shots on 12, 15, 1, 5 and 6, with the bogey coming at 18. He made an excellent 20-foot putt to save par on his final hole – the 9th – after finding the greenside bunker with his approach shot.
“The main difference today was I didn’t hole as many putts as I did yesterday,” said Haeggman. “But in general, I played quite nicely again, hit some really good golf shots and kept driving the ball okay. I was hitting the greens, which is very important here because chipping and putting around these greens is very tricky. You’ve got to play this golf course with patience. But overall, really happy to add on to my score because if you shoot two or three over today, you’re coming back to the field. Now it’s really hard for them to kind of catch up with you.”
Haeggman is relishing the battle with the two Indians in the final round: “It’s great that we have the host guys playing so well. Jeev’s going to be right in there and obviously it couldn’t be better for the tournament. But I hope that I can stay on top and beat them tomorrow, but again, it’s great for the tournament that we have two Indians playing well.
“Winning is always going to be difficult, disregarding who it is and whatever tournament it is, it’s never going to be easy. But I’m really looking forward to the challenge. You much prefer to be one ahead than one behind, so there’s a good start.”
India’s Jyoti Randhawa had another rollercoaster day at Jaypee Greens as he recorded six birdies, six pars and six bogeys in a level-par 72. He’s five off the lead, but he won at this course with a closing 64 in a Professional Golf Tour of India event in 2008, so he’s more than capable of mounting a serious charge. Singh was one of the players who finished in 2nd that week.
MCB Road to Mauritius number four Adilson da Silva is in 4th after a 73. Teeing off on 10, the Brazilian had a slow start with dropped shots at 11 and 13, but he played his inward half in 35, including a birdie at his last hole, to be -3. Clark Dennis is one shot further back in 5th following a 75.
Nine players are under par for the tournament, with a four-way tie for 6th on -1, which includes Simon Griffiths, Sean Whiffin, Mikael Lundberg and Greig Hutcheon. We’re into the second half of the season and Griffiths and Whiffin have work to do to climb the MCB Road to Mauritius and guarantee their playing rights for next season, so it’s a significant final day even for those a little further down the leaderboard.
Singh’s 68 was the joint best round of the day, and it was only matched by Andrew Raitt, who matched that score to climb into a tie for 16th.
The final round will get underway at 7.30am, with a two-tee start, and the final group of Joakim Haeggman, Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa going off the 1st at 9.20am.
