Shamim Khan opens up three-stroke lead

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Delhi's Shamim Khan emerged as the title favourite after he opened up a three-stroke lead at the end of the penultimate round of the McLeod Russel Tour Championship golf tournament here today.

Shamim's score of three-under 69 took his total to nine-under 207 as he went three shots clear of the rest of the field.

There is a three-way tie for second place between M Dharma of Bangalore, Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh Chadha and Mukesh Kumar of Mhow locked at six-under-210.

Shamim Khan (70-68-69), the overnight leader by one stroke, had a solid start to the day as he made pars on the first three holes.

He increased his lead by collecting birdies on the fourth, sixth and eighth to make the turn at three-under for the day.

On the sixth, his outstanding approach shot landed within a foot of the pin while on the eighth he knocked down a 25-footer.

The 34-year-old Shamim, who has recorded the most number of wins (three) and maximum top-10s (17) among all professionals in the current season, continued to impress with the putter on the back-nine as he converted a 15-feet birdie putt on the 10th.

Shamim stumbled with a double bogey on the 12th where his tee shot hit a tree and landed in the rough.

The leader came up with a glorious tee shot on the very next hole (13th) where he missed a hole-in-one by a whisker.

Shamim's birdie on the 13th allowed him a three-shot cushion at the top of the leaderboard.

The professional from the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) has now emerged as the favourite for the Rolex Rankings crown as he is currently seven shots clear of the other top contender for the crown, fellow DGC professional Rashid Khan.

M Dharma (72-71-67) shot the day's joint best score of 67 to climb from overnight tied ninth to tied second spot.

The 26-year-old Bangalorean sank three birdies on the first four holes, dropped a bogey on the ninth and closed with three more birdies on the last four holes.

Abhijit Singh Chadha's (74-67-69) round of 69 helped him climb from overnight tied third to joint second. His round featured five birdies and two bogeys.

Mukesh Kumar (68-71-71) was also tied second after he carded a quiet 71 which included three birdies and two bogeys.

The man from Mhow, one of the giants of Indian golf, is the only player besides Shamim who has so far shot three sub-par rounds this week.

Kolkata's SSP Chowrasia shares fifth place with Vijay Kumar of Lucknow and Sri Lankan Mithun Perera at five-under-211.

Rolex Rankings leader Rashid Khan is in joint eighth position at two-under-214 along with Shankar Das of Kolkata and Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad.

Jyoti Randhawa, Anirban Lahiri, Delhi golfer Manav Jaini and Patna's Mohammad Islam share 11th position at one-under-215.

Mohammad Islam's 67 was the joint best score of the day along with Dharma's round.