Om Prakash Chouhan establishes lead in Tata Open

Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow today established a four-shot lead in round three of the 13th TATA Open to emerge as frontrunner for the title.
Chouhan struck a four-under-67 in Jamshedpur to take his total to 13-under-201.
Gurgaon's Abhishek Kuhar came up with a three-under-68 in the third round to be placed second at nine-under-205.
The entire field consisting of the 53 players who made the cut, played nine holes each on both courses - Beldih and Golmuri - today.
While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri.
Twenty-seven golfers with the best scores at the end of round two teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 71. This format will also be followed in the fourth and final round tomorrow.

Currently placed second in the Rolex Rankings Chouhan (67-67-67), the overnight leader by one shot, enjoyed an outstanding day with the putter as he sank five birdie putts from a range of 15 to 30 feet on the fourth, eighth, 10th, 15th and 18th. He also took advantage of the two par-5s at Beldih, the 12th and 16th, by landing it within three feet on both for tap-in birdies. A three-putt on the seventh and missed chip-putts on the 11th and 14th resulted in his three bogeys of the day.

The 28-year-old Chouhan, a winner on the PGTI this year, will now be eyeing his fourth title.

Kuhar moved up from overnight tied fourth to second place after his third round effort of three-under-68. The 19-year-old Kuhar made an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys today.
Bangaloreans Khalin Joshi and C Muniyappa were tied third at eight-under-206.
Rolex Rankings leader Chikkarangappa of Bangalore and Mukesh Kumar of Mhow were a further shot back in tied fifth spot.
Digvijay Singh and Himmat Singh Rai, both from the DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurgaon, occupied joint seventh place at six-under-208.
Sri Lankan N Thangaraja made five straight birdies from the second through the sixth during his round of seven-under-64 which also accounted for the best single-round score of the tournament. He closed the day in tied ninth place at five-under-209.