Feroz Ali sets himself up for title defense

On a day that witnessed some really high scoring, Kolkata’s Feroz Ali held his game together, to give himself a three-stroke cushion for a final day title defense.

The penultimate round of the Rs 10-lakh Hero Honda Golf Open – Pune 2002 being played at the par-71, Poona Club Golf (Ltd.) saw Feroz card a level-par 72 to take his tally to five-under 208 for the tournament.

Another Kolkatan, SSP Chowrasia, was placed second three-strokes behind the leader at a tally of two-under 211. Chowrasia was followed by one of the senior-most golfers on the Tour, Balbir Verma, whose aggregate stood at level-par 213.

Overnight joint-leader Jaiveer Virk, opening round leader Ali Sher(both Delhi) and Vijay Kumar (Lucknow) were tied for the fourth spot at one-over 214. Arjun Singh (Delhi) and Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow) occupied the seventh position at two-over 215 while Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar was tied with a host of others at ninth-spot at a tally of three-over 216.

Feroz Ali came into the tournament determined to win. After all this was the event that earned him the tag of the 'Millennium Winner' in January 2001. Feroz’s title defense attempt was strongly challenged by Jaiveer Virk’s stupendous showing yesterday but bringing all his experience together, the Kolkatan retrieved himself out of the woods.

"The pin positions were really tough today. This is the reason for such high scores being carded. On my part, I just decided to keep the ball in play and aim for two-putts on the green. No fancy stuff. I might not have returned a big under-par score but I am now in a position where I can dictate terms tomorrow," said the ’98 Indian Open winner.

Feroz’s outward journey included a bogey on the 2ndwhich was nullified by a birdie finish to his front-nine. Thereafter he went on to drop shots on the 12th and 13th and then birdie the 15th and 18th. "My driving is the secret of my consistency," he said.

“Ever since I switched to the Wilson, Deep-Red, 9 degree, Fat Shaft Driver, I have gained at least 20-yards in my driving distance,” he added. Truly enough, Feroz has reached the green in one in more par-fours than he can remember this week.

"There is no denying that the greens are quick but what my driving does is it gives me a cushion against that extra putt I might take to sink the ball." The highlight of his day’s play he insists was his approach shot on the 17th.

"On that hole, I hooked my driver next to the 15th tee box. From there all I could see was a bunch of trees. Noticing a small gap between two of those trees, I punched my nine-iron to just 15-feet from the pin," he added. "As for tomorrow, I plan to attack the pin. That is the way I generally play," he concluded.

Chowrasia, consistent on the greens, was however let down to an extent by his driving. "My driving has been really poor this week. I need to identify the mistake and rectify it before the next tournament," he said.

"Today, my short game was good especially considering the angles my driver left me with to reach the green. The golf course is playing superb but success can be achieved only with some accurate shot planning," he added.

Chowrasia ‘s round began with a sea of pared holes, before he birdied the 7th. On the 9th, his approach shot saw the ball hit the green and slide into the left bunker. He bogeyed that hole.

Thereafter he birdied the 10th, 12th (a brilliant 30-foot effort on the green) and 15th, bogeying the 11th, 13th, 16th and 17th. "Feroz Ali is a superb player. His driving is pin-point accurate and he has been putting consistently as well this week. His big match temperament will be an asset but I am going to prove a stiff challenge as I very badly want to win this tournament," said a smiling Chowrasia.

Kanitkar replaces Nigade in amateur lead Aditya Kanitkar nudged Sachin Nigade out of the lead with a third round score of five-over 76. Kanitkar’s tally now stands at ten-over 223, one stroke less than the second placed Nigade who aggregates 224. Rajiv Datar was placed third at 16-over 229.

SCORES (after 54 holes):
208_Feroz Ali(70,67,71); 211_Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia(71,68,72); 213_Balbir Verma(73,70,70); 214_Jaiveer Virk(72,65,77), Ali Sher(69,72,73), Vijay Kumar(70,73,71), 215_Sanjay Kumar(71,70,74), Arjun Singh(72,70,73); Amateurs: 223_Aditya Kanitkar(76,71,76), 224_Sachin Nigade(72,73,79); 229_Rajiv Datar(74,73,82)

Earlier reports:
Jaiveer Virk equals course record
Mukesh, Ali Sher jointly lead the Hero Honda Open