Om Prakash Chouhan’s spectacular rear-guard action propels him into tied second to raise Indian hopes, Chouhan trails leader Lorenzo Scalise of Italy by two shots

Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise shot the third day’s best score of seven-under 65 to take a two-shot lead at 15-under 201 at the US$300,000 Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge 2023 being played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course in Bengaluru.

The big news for India was that Om Prakash Chouhan fired a 66 to zoom 11 spots to tied second at 13-under 203 and thus emerge as the highest-placed golfer from the host country at the event co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour and PGTI.

Chouhan was in a four-way tie for the second spot along with Spain’s Victor Pastor (67), England’s Ashley Chesters (68) and Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg (69).

Aman Raj (71) was the second Indian in the top-10. He was placed tied ninth at 10-under 206.

Lorenzo Scalise (68-68-65), on his first trip to India, has posted only one bogey in his last 54 holes. The 27-year-old from Monza, who currently sits in tenth position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, was pleased with every part of his game as he went error-free.

Scalise said, “I hit it great off the tee and put myself into some great positions. My putting was very good, and I only left myself short sided once.

“I’ve started the season well and my aim is to be in contention every week because you have to play consistently throughout the year if you want to finish in the top 20 and get your DP World Tour card.”

Om Prakash Chouhan (70-67-66), a seven-time winner on the PGTI, had a quiet start with just one birdie on the front-nine. The Mhow-based Om Prakash then began to gather steam with birdie-eagle on the 10^th and 11^th making a 16-feet conversion on the latter. Chouhan then stumbled with a double-bogey on the 12^th where he found the hazard.

‘OP’ as Chouhan is known, then came up with a fantastic rear-guard action by sinking long-distance birdie putts on the 14^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th to rise into contention.

The 36-year-old Chouhan said, “After a good start, the double-bogey on the 12^th was quite disappointing but fortunately I didn’t let that affect my game. I was pleased with the very strong finish. I’ve been working on the mental aspect of my game as errors on the course used to affect me a lot in the past. But I’m in a much better mental space now to handle such situations.

“My driving and iron shots are my strength at the moment but I know once the putts start rolling in for me I can even shoot a round of eight-under.

“Importantly, I’ve begun the year with some good results, three top-10s out of four starts, which has given me a lot of confidence.”

Aman Raj (67-68-71) mixed five birdies with four bogeys in his round of 71 to slip six spots to tied ninth.

India’s Aryan Roopa Anand (72) was tied 17^th at eight-under 208.

Among the other prominent Indian names, Udayan Mane (72) was tied 43^rd at five-under 211 and Khalin Joshi (74) was tied 61^st at one-under 215.