Himmat jumps to tied 22nd in Ciputra Golfpreneur

Indian golfer Himmat Rai jumped 13 places to be tied 22nd after scoring three-under 69 in the third round of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at the Damai Indah Golf course here on Friday.

Himmat, who scored 70 and 71 in the first two rounds respectively at the $100,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, has a 54-hole total of six-under 210. He is nine shots behind joint leaders Lam Chih Bing of Singapore and Sutijet Kooratanapisan of Thailand.

Delhi's Himmat got off to a poor start as he bogeyed the first and third holes. But he limited the damage with two birdies on the fourth and sixth.

The 28-year-old then continued his good work, making birdies on the 11th, 13th and 14th to get a 69.

Meanwhile, starting the round with a three-shot deficit, Lam fired a sizzling seven-under 65 to grab a share of third round lead. He got birdies on the second, third, fourth, sixth, eighth, 13th and 18th in a bogey-free round.

He has been bogey-free in his last 36 holes, highlighted by 10 birdies and one eagle, for a one-shot lead on 15-under 201 total with overnight leader Sutijet, who signed for a 68 on Friday.

Michael Tran of Vietnam and Thailand's Panuwat Muenlek shared third place after carding second consecutive 66s and 67s respectively while American Jarin Todd stayed a further shot back in fifth place following a 69.

Australian Jordan Sherratt (66), Thailand's Atthaphon Sriboonkaew (67) and Gyeongjun Lee (67) of Korea shared sixth on 204 while defending champion James Byrne of Scotland fought his way back into top-10 after capping his best efforts of a 66 to tie in ninth position.