Kapur, Peterson share lead at Panasonic Open

Shiv Kapur showed great composure and grit to hang in and then close the day with a stunning 25-footer for an eagle to take a share of the lead at the end of the third round of the Panasonic Open India golf tournament here on Saturday.

Minutes before he holed that massive putt, American Paul Peterson (70) chipped in from the edge on the 18th to move from 11-under to 13-under, where he was joined by Kapur (69).

Having started the day with an opening bogey, it was a testing day for Kapur as he had to dig deep into his reserves to grind out a three-under-par 69 to remain on course for his first win on his home course at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC).

Peterson started his round encouragingly with an eagle but fell off the leaderboard momentarily after bogeys on holes two, four and nine.

A birdie on 14 before a closing chip-in eagle on 18 lifted the American back to the top with his three-day total of 13-under-par 203.

Another DGC man Shamim Khan, who is currently leading the PGTI Order of Merit, signed for a 69 to take third place.

Tied at fourth was the seasoned S.S.P. Chawrasia with four birdies, three of them in last seven holes. He had for company Om Prakash Chouhan (66) and Sudhir Sharma (66).

Chouhan's card included two chip-in birdies on the seventh and 11th and Sudhir had eight birdies and two bogeys and are at 11-under.

With just two shots separating the top six players, the stage is set for a gripping finish.

Thaworn Wiratchant (68) lurks at 10-under, while five players, including five Indians Aman Raj (69), Karandeep Kochar (69), Honey Baisoya (71) and Divyanshu Bajaj (72) are at 8-under.

--IANS

ajb/vm