Pune, Oct 21 (IANS): A confident five-under 61 despite a double bogey on the 17th hole saw Gurugram golfer Veer Ahlawat take lead with an overall score of 15-under 183 after the completion of Round 3 of the Pune Open Golf Championship 2022 here on Friday.

Veer is now one shot clear of overnight leader and second-placed Delhi golfer Kapil Kumar who carded a three-under 63 on Friday.

Chandigarh's Ajeetesh Sandhu along with Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja was tied for third with identical overall scores of 13-under 185. However, it was Noida's Rashid Khan who stole the show on Friday carding the day's best round of nine-under 57 to jump 32 spots to be tied fifth with Delhi's Kshitij Naved Kaul with identical overall scores of 11-Under 187.

"I was level-par after the 6th and was playing steady. However, the birdies on the 7th and 9th helped me gain confidence and continue with the momentum for the next three holes. The double bogey on the 17th was just unfortunate, but the birdies on the 15th and 18th holes kept me in business. I am happy with my game and I think I am playing good golf. I think the course is playing very scoring and my objective for tomorrow will be to stick to the basics with the aim to score better than today," said Veer Ahlawat.

Overnight leader Kapil Kumar had a sedate round and slipped a position on the leaderboard to be placed second with an overall score of 14-Under 184. Kapil who started on the back of error-free rounds on days 1 & 2, struggled on the 16th hole to card his only bogey of the tournament so far. Kapil's four birdies came on the 12th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes.

Noida's Rashid Khan went all guns blazing in round 3 with a fantastic nine-under 57, the day's best figure to jump his way up into contention at tied fifth with Delhi's Kshitij Naved Kaul.