Shiv Prakash leads Cotton City Open

Veteran Kanpur pro Shiv Prakash vaulted himself into contention on the penultimate day of the Rs 850,000 Cotton City Open, the second leg of the Hero Honda Golf Tour’s 2001-02 season, when he opened a six-stroke lead over his closest pursuers at the 6,973-yard Coimbatore Golf Club course, on Saturday.

While overnight leader Vivek Bhandari floundered with a 78, Shiv Prakash shot a one-under 71 to tally three-under 213 for 54 holes. That gave him a six-stroke cushion over Bhandari and Mohamed Islam of Patna, who were tied for the second place at three-over 219. Islam returned the best card of the day – a two-under 70.

Yusuf Ali, winner of The Hindu Open last week, was lurking as a real threat at four-over 220, while Asian PGA Tour regular Amritinder Singh was fifth at 221. Vijay Kumar was two strokes behind the Chandigarh pro at 223.

The swirling winds at this scenic course dictated percentage golf and safety first methods. And when it comes to playing by experience, there is none better pro in the country than Shiv Prakash.

"I have been playing golf even before many of the present golfers were born. I know what this course demands after playing the first two rounds," said the player who was ranked third in the Order of Merit last season.

A birdie on the fifth and a bogey on the ninth saw Shiv complete his front nine at level-par. On the back nine, he caught fire with birdie efforts on the 11th, 13th and 15th holes. However, the going was too good to last and he made unfortunate bogeys on the 16th and 17th prevented him from opening an even bigger lead.

"Six strokes is pretty comfortable unless I do something foolish. I don’t see myself losing if I can play to par tomorrow," added Shiv Prakash, whose last victory was at the Wills Northern Open last season at Lucknow.

Bhandari was a dejected man. “My game just fell apart today. I had a bad start to my round with a bogey on the very first hole, and the trend continued,” said Bhandari, who made a double bogey on the fourth after his ball got plugged in the bunker, and another on the ninth where he three-putted from less than 15 feet.

The Delhi-based pro also had four bogeys and two birdies during the round. "Golf is a strange game. Yesterday, it was almost as if I could do no wrong. Today, I played like a novice," added Bhandari, who shot in to lead with a stunning six-under 66 on Friday.

For Islam, conditions were quite unlike the ones he is used to at the Patna Golf Club course. The presence of eucalyptus trees at almost every nook and corner of the course demands proficiency in lofted shots. However, he had to play low shots on Saturday to counter the wind and he did this remarkably well. The genial golfer was one-under after the front nine with a bogey on the seventh and birdies on the eighth and ninth. He was level-par on the 10th with a bogey, but finished strongly with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 18th with the only blemish being a bogey on the 15th.

MAHESHWARAN LEADS AMATEURS: N Maheshwaran snatched the limelight in the amateur’s section from Vignesh Ranga Rao with a two-over 74 on the third day. Maheshwaran now leads by five strokes with a three-day tally of 14-over 230.

SCORES (after 54 holes): 213 _ Shiv Prakash (74,68,71); 219 _ Mohammed Islam (72,77,70), Vivek Bhandari (75,66,78); 220 _ Yusuf Ali (73,72,75); 221 _ Amritinder Singh (73,74,74); 223 _ Vijay Kumar (76,73,74); 224 _ Basad Ali (75,76,73), SSP Chowrasia (74,76,74), Mukesh Kumar (74,74,76); 225 _ Rahil Gangjee (77,72,76); 227 _ Rohtas Singh (80,72,75); 228 _ Sanjay Kumar (80,75,73), Uttam Singh Mundy (77,77,74), C Muniyappa (75,74,79), Harmeet Kahlon (74,75,79); Amateurs: 230 _ N Maheshwaran (80,76,74); 235 _ Vignesh Ranga Rao (69,83,83)