![\"Vikrant](\"images\/golf\/Vikrant-Chopra.jpg\")
Jaipur: Noida\u2019s Vikrant Chopra continued in the lead on the third day of the Jaipur Open 2017 as a result of his rock-solid two-under-68 that kept him two ahead at 17-under-193.<\/p>\nJaipur: Noida\u2019s Vikrant Chopra continued in the lead on the third day of the Jaipur Open 2017 as a result of his rock-solid two-under-68 that kept him two ahead at 17-under-193.<\/p>\n
Lucknow\u2019s Sanjeev Kumar reduced Chopra\u2019s lead to two strokes after his standout performance of 65 took his total to 15-under-195 at the picturesque Rambagh Golf Club.<\/p>\n
Delhi\u2019s Honey Baisoya also produced the day\u2019s best of 65 to rise to third place at 14-under-196.<\/p>\n
PGTI Order of Merit leader Shamim Khan (67) of Delhi was another stroke back in fourth.<\/p>\n
Vikrant Chopra (62-63-68), the overnight leader by five shots, had a relatively quieter day as compared to round one and two but managed to hang on to his advantage. The 37-year-old kept the errors out once again with his second bogey-free round of the week. He\u2019s just dropped one bogey so far in three rounds.<\/p>\n
Chopra sank a 10-footer for birdie on the fifth but then the putts stopped rolling in for him as he had a few narrow misses for birdies. However, he finally nailed a crucial six feet birdie putt on the 18th that ensured him a two-shot cushion ahead of the final round.<\/p>\n
Vikrant said, \u201cAnytime you have a bogey-free round you should be happy since technically you\u2019ve not made any mistakes. So I\u2019m quite pleased with today\u2019s effort even though the putts didn\u2019t fall for me. The closing birdie was critical as it nicely sets up the final round for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key in the final round will be to keep the ball in play. I will play to my plan in round four. One does tend to look at the leaderboard in such situations, but it\u2019s important to not let it affect your game too much. That\u2019s what I\u2019ll keep in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few experienced golfers in the mix such as Shamim Khan, Vinod Kumar and Honey Baisoya as well as Sanjeev Kumar who is playing really well. I\u2019m therefore expecting some intense competition on the final day,\u201d added a confident Chopra, who is chasing his maiden individual title.<\/p>\n
Sanjeev Kumar (67-63-65), who was overnight joint second, emerged as the prime challenger to the leader with the third round\u2019s best score of 65. The 25-year-old Sanjeev, who turned pro in 2011, has played the best golf of his career in the last two seasons.<\/p>\n
The Lucknow lad had posted a top-10 at the Asian Tour\u2019s Panasonic Open India in 2016 and followed that up with a runner-up finish at the PGTI event in Chittagong earlier this year.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Sanjeev was four-under through the front-nine largely thanks to a 15-feet eagle conversion on the eighth. He eagled the eighth for the second day in succession. Kumar then added two more birdies and a bogey to his card on the back-nine to end up with a five-under for the day.<\/p>\n
Sanjeev said, \u201cI\u2019m playing in the leader group for the first time this week, so I felt the pressure on the first few holes today. But the eagle on the eighth lifted my confidence. I thought I was in a good position to take the lead today but there were a few missed opportunities towards the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy putting needs to be sharper in the final round and I think a round of five to six under will give me a good chance of winning. I\u2019m quite happy that I\u2019ve dropped just two bogeys so far this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy game has just taken off since last year due to various factors. I\u2019m using new equipment, driving much better and making more conversions on the greens. I also feel less pressure while competing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honey Baisoya matched the day\u2019s best of 65 to gain one place and move up to third position.<\/p>\n
Shamim Khan\u2019s third round of 67 saw him drop from tied second to fourth place at 13-under-197.<\/p>\n
Gurgaon-based Manu Gandas and Delhi\u2019s Vinod Kumar returned scores of 66 to share fifth place at 12-under-198.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jaipur: Noida\u2019s Vikrant Chopra continued in the lead on the third day of the Jaipur Open 2017 as a result of his rock-solid two-under-68 that kept him two ahead at 17-under-193.<\/p>\n
Lucknow\u2019s Sanjeev Kumar reduced Chopra\u2019s lead to two strokes after his standout performance of 65 took his total to 15-under-195 at the picturesque Rambagh Golf Club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6480,466,22703,969],"class_list":["post-35542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-golf-golf","tag-indian-sports","tag-indian-sports-news","tag-jaipur-open-2017","tag-vikrant-chopra"],"yoast_head":"\n