The 23-year-old Delhi golfer, who began the day three strokes clear, followed his opening rounds of 68 and 67 with a one-under 71 to reach 10-under 206. His advantage was reduced by one, but he remained in control heading into the final round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chandigarh\u2019s Angad Cheema (73-68-67) and Hyderabad\u2019s Mohd Azhar (70-68-70) shared second place at eight-under 208. Cheema made the strongest move among Bhattacharya\u2019s nearest challengers, returning a five-under 67 to climb into contention. Azhar stayed in the hunt with a two-under 70.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Czech Republic\u2019s Stepan Danek (76-70-63) produced the lowest round of the day, firing a bogey-free nine-under 63 featuring nine birdies. His round included four consecutive birdies from the first through the fourth as he climbed from tied 14th overnight to fourth place at seven-under 209.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bangladesh\u2019s Badal Hossain (69-72-69) occupied fifth place at six-under 210, while Gurugram\u2019s Veer Ahlawat (71-71-69), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, was sixth at five-under 211.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bhattacharya\u2019s round was played in testing weather, with rain and strong winds making the back nine particularly demanding. The three-time DP World PGTI winner struck the ball well but missed two short putts during the closing stretch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe rain and strong winds made the conditions difficult, especially on the back nine,\u201d said Bhattacharya. \u201cI hit the ball well but missed two short putts coming home.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A birdie on the final hole provided a timely lift and allowed him to restore a two-shot cushion ahead of Sunday\u2019s final round. \u201cFinishing with a birdie was important and gave me a positive end to the round,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bhattacharya, currently 16th in the season rankings, does not plan to alter the approach that has kept him at the top of the leaderboard through the first three days. \u201cThe plan is to keep finding fairways and hitting greens,\u201d he said. \u201cThat approach has worked well over the first three rounds, so I\u2019ll stay with it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Current PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70), who spent the summer competing on the HotelPlanner Tour, improved from tied ninth to seventh place at three-under 213.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bhattacharya, currently 16th in the season rankings, does not plan to alter the approach that has kept him at the top of the leaderboard through the first three days. \u201cThe plan is to keep finding fairways and hitting greens,\u201d he said. \u201cThat approach has worked well over the first three rounds, so I\u2019ll stay with it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kaul was joined by Panipat\u2019s Shubham Jaglan (70-73-71) and Jaipur\u2019s Prakhar Asawa (71-71-72). Jaglan arrived in Bengaluru after securing his maiden professional title at last week\u2019s Coal India Open in Kolkata.<\/p>\r\n\r\n