Chandigarh, Nov 13 (IANS) Teenager Manoj S fired a five-under 67 to storm into the lead in round three of the inaugural Trident Open, an INR 1 crore event, being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Seventeen-year-old rookie Manoj (69-71-67), who hails from Bengaluru, took his total to nine-under 207 on day three, which gave him a one-shot lead.

At the age of 17 years, seven months and 26 days, Manoj is now in line to become the youngest player to win as a professional on the PGTI. The record is currently held by Shubhankar Sharma, who achieved the feat (PGTI Cochin Masters 2014) at the age of 17 years, eight months and 22 days. Karandeep Kochhar holds the overall record for the youngest player to win on the tour as he registered his maiden win (PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge Club 2016) while still an amateur at the age of 17 years and five months.

Former PGTI Order of Merit champion Manu Gandas (66-73-69) carded a 69 to close the third round in second place at eight-under 208.

There was daylight between the top two and the rest of the field as the five players bunched in third place were a further three shots behind at five-under 211. The players in a tied third included the Chandigarh duo of Yuvraj Sandhu (70) and Akshay Sharma (72), as well as Shubham Jaglan (71), who was playing his first PGTI event, Shaurya Bhattacharya, and Mohd Azhar.

Earlier in the day, Akshay Sharma and Manu Gandas emerged as halfway leaders at five-under 139 after round two.

Manoj S, who has recorded five top-10s in his last six starts on the PGTI, collected four more birdies in exchange for two bogeys on the back nine to move into pole position.

On a day when conditions seemed to ease up a bit with lower scores being posted, Manoj rolled in three 10-footers, capped the round with a 25-foot conversion on the 18th and also missed a hole-in-one on the Par-3 14th where his tee shot hit the flag.

Manoj said, “I’ve come into this event with a decent run of form over the past few weeks all thanks to my outstanding ball-striking. I’ve been hitting a lot of regulations that have created chances for me. Today also I was very consistent with my hitting. The birdie on the 14th gave me a huge boost as the tee shot hit the flag. It was one of my best shots this week.

“I’ll just treat the final round as another round of golf and try not to get ahead of myself on the final day. This approach has helped me so far. I’ll look to continue the same.”

The seasoned Manu Gandas, searching for his first win since early 2024, struck four birdies and a bogey to close round three in second place and emerge as the biggest challenger to leader Manoj.

PGTI Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu moved up seven spots to tie third as a result of his round of 70.

–IANS

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