Mukesh Kumar, eying his third Indian Oil Servo Masters title and second Amby Valley PGAI Tour title of the season, fired a four-under 68 to enter the final round with a six stroke lead at the Rs One million Indian Oil Servo Masters Golf 2004, being played at the par-72, Digboi Club Golf Links.
Mukesh's tally stands at 16-under 200.
Kolkata's Yusuf Ali, known for his doggedness and fierce determination, shot a five-under 67 to settle at second position at ten-under 206.
Meanwhile, the talented Shiv Kapur slipped out of contention with a round of five-over 77.
Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh shot a five-under 67 to leapfrog into the third position at seven-under 209.
Kolkata's Rafiq Ali shot a superb seven-under 65 to move into fourth place at 211, while Chandigarh's Harinder Gupta fired a 66 to tie for fifth place with fellow-Chandigarh pro Randhir Ghotra at 212.
Mukesh Kumar has always been very clear about what he wants. The Mhow pro walked into the Digboi Club Golf Links just after his round and pointed to the board hanging by the club's entrance. The board in question displayed two entries with the golfer's name highlighting his wins here in 2001 and 2002.
"I want my name there tomorrow," said Mukesh. And from the looks of it, he most certainly will.
Mukesh's third round saw him drop shots early on, on the third and fifth. On the first occasion, the 38-year-old found the water hazard with his driver and on the second, his driver faded into the right bushes. That was that. Mukesh took one long deep breath and went on to reel off birdies on the sixth and ninth to enter his return journey at level-par. Thereafter, the golfer rattled off four more birdies on the 11th, 14th, 15th and 16th.
"I would have birdie the 17th and 18th as well but missed eight and ten feet birdie putts,' said the three-time Amby Valley PGAI Tour Order of Merit winner.
"When I teed off today, I aimed to get to anywhere near 15-under. My plan worked like clock-work and tomorrow, I hope to go on to win my third Indian Oil Servo Masters title," smiled the second-ranked golfer on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour,
Yusuf Ali is thirsting for a win. He last won an event at the Forest Hills Open in Chandigarh in February 2004. However, it is very unlikely that the Kolkatan will achieve his goal this week. That he put up a brave fight to get to where he is however highlights his fighting spirit.
Yusuf erred only once today, this on the tenth where he left his chip short of the pin and went on to two-putt. Otherwise, he played percentage golf to birdie the second (where he incidentally made a 20 feet putt), third, seventh, 11th, 14th and 18th.
"I am quite happy with the way I played today. Mukesh Kumar has a huge lead but golf is a strange game. Anything can happen and I will be going for gold," said the 36-year old eternal optimist.
Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh, in his own words, hit the ball like a dream today. This enabled the 32-year-old to find every single fairway and green save one. On that occasion, Amritinder dropped his only shot of the day.
The Asian PGA Tour regular started his round with a sea of pars before birdying the ninth. His back nine was a lesson in attacking golf. The bearded pro went on a rampage, birdying the 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th. Amritinder bogeyed the 17th.
Baruah continues in amateur lead: Ajay Baruah continued to lead the amateur field at 246.
Scores (after 54 holes): 200 Mukesh Kumar(67,65,68); 206 Yusuf Ali(70,69,67); 209 Amritinder Singh(70,72,67); 211 Rafiq Ali(77,69,65); 212 Harinder Gupta(70,76,66), Randhir Ghotra(70,72,70); 215 Feroz Ali(72,72,71); 216 Sanjay Kumar(76,69,71), Vinod Kumar(72,73,71), Mohd. Islam(72,72,72), Gurki Shergill(71,71,74), Shiv Kapur(67.72,77).
