Chouhan stays steady to lead Indian golfers at DP World India Championship

Hyderabad: Om Prakash Chouhan (68-72-71) remained rock-solid on day three to be the best-placed Indian in tied 30th place at five-under 211 at the US$4 million DP World India Championship, a joint-sanctioned event of the DP World Tour and DP World PGTI being played at the Delhi Golf Club.

Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra (67-67) led the field at 14-under, having gone four-under through 11 holes in his third round when play was suspended due to fading light at 5.44 pm local time.

The four hours and 50 minutes of playing time lost to rain on Wednesday resulted in a backlog, due to which the second round was completed earlier on Saturday. A total of 77 players made the halfway cut at even-par 144. Twenty-six of them completed their third rounds before play was suspended on Saturday.

Chouhan, who played on the DP World Tour in 2024 after topping the DP World PGTI Tour Order of Merit in 2023, had played just two holes, both pars, in the second round when play was suspended on Friday. He returned to the course and played 34 holes on Saturday.

The 12-time winner carded four birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey in his second-round 72 during the first half of the day to finish the halfway stage tied 29th.

Om Prakash, currently ranked seventh in the DP World PGTI Order of Merit, then carded two birdies and a bogey, along with some crucial par-saves, in his third-round 71 during the latter half of the day.

Earlier in the morning, Yuvraj Sandhu (75-68) produced the most dramatic fightback, making seven birdies in his final 10 holes, including four in the last five, to finish at one-under 143.

After being three-over through the first seven holes of his second round, he made seven birdies between the ninth and 18th holes to card a 68 and make the cut. He was even-par through five holes in the third round and stood at even-par for 50 holes, tied 60th.

DP World PGTI Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar (71-73) was even-par through 12 holes in the third round and tied 60th.

Anirban Lahiri (70-73), who was one-under through 16 holes in the third round, was tied 48th.