Kolar (Karnataka), Aug 28 (IANS) Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya delivered a tournament low score of six-under 66 to build a three-shot lead at a total of eight-under 208 in round three of the INR 1 crore Kolar Open 2025 being played at the ZION Hills Golf Course located near Kolar in Karnataka.

Pune’s Udayan Mane (73-67-71), who ended up as the round two leader following his course record score of 67 on Wednesday, came up with a 71 on Thursday to drop down to second place at five-under 211. Honey Baisoya (70) of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, and Nepal’s Subash Tamang (72) were tied third at three-under 213.

The 22-year-old Shaurya Bhattacharya, who was two shots off the lead at the start of round three, got on a roll with three early birdies on the first four holes, where he made some terrific up-and-downs.

Bhattacharya, who has five top-10s to his name this year, including a victory, continued to use his wedges to great effect when he added three more birdies from the 10th through the 12th. Bhattacharya’s two bogeys on the last five holes were negated by another two birdies on the same stretch. He thus closed the round with some daylight between himself and the rest of the field.

Bhattacharya said, “I hit it really well off the tees, my driving was great, and I backed that up with good approach shots today. I kept it in play. I hit a lot of regulations. Importantly, I made a good start on both the front-nine and the back-nine, which kept the momentum going for me.

“The layout here is quite challenging, especially on the back nine. There are some scoring holes, but there are also some holes that can really spoil your scorecard. So, you have to plan well for those holes.”

Udayan Mane is Bhattacharya’s nearest challenger. Udayan had a rollercoaster third round as he produced seven birdies in exchange for six bogeys. Mane, who was the leader by one shot after round two, braved a horrid stretch of four consecutive bogeys from the sixth to the ninth in round three, where he missed fairways and greens.

Udayan Mane, looking to end a four-year-long winless streak, closed the day on a positive note with two birdies on the last three holes to keep himself in the hunt.

–IANS

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