Lankan lions roar at the Poona Club Golf Course
Pune, June 3, 2011: Lankan lions roar at the Poona Club Golf Course and Rohana enjoys two-stroke lead; Perera, Das & Murthy in tied second.Day three of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Poona Club Ltd. was a highly productive one for Sri Lankan golfers Anura Rohana and Mithun Perera. While Rohana fired a four under 67 on Friday to be perched on top of the leaderboard at 10 under 203, his compatriot Perera also shot a 67 to be placed tied second along with Kolkata’s Shankar Das and Bangalorean R Murthy at eight under 205.
Anura Rohana (69-67-67), who was overnight second, did not have the ideal start to round three. He dropped a double bogey on the opening hole after finding the green in four shots. The Colombo-based professional, still looking for his maiden title on the Aircel PGTI, made a speedy recovery thereafter as it rained birdies for him.
The 37-year-old Sri Lankan sank a 12-footer for birdie on the fourth and then kept landing his approach shots within eight feet to accumulate birdies on the sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 15th. He ended the day with bogey-birdie on the last two holes to sign off with a hard-earned 67.
Rohana said, “I kept giving myself birdie opportunities with my consistent hitting. I also did not miss any putts. It was important to adjust to the speed of the greens after the rain came down in round two. I managed to do that well. I’ll draw inspiration from the fact that I have performed well at this venue in the past as I won the Qualifying School event here back in 2003. My aim would be to shoot a four under.”
Mithun Perera (70-68-67) is the other Sri Lankan in the top four. Perera’s round of 67 on Friday featured five birdies against a lone bogey. He is currently two strokes off the pace in joint second along with Shankar Das (69-69-67), who shot a bogey-free round and R Murthy (69-68-68).
Vijay Kumar occupies fifth place at seven under 206 while overnight leader Toran Bikram Shahi and Shamim Khan are in tied sixth at six under 207.
Anura Rohana (69-67-67), who was overnight second, did not have the ideal start to round three. He dropped a double bogey on the opening hole after finding the green in four shots. The Colombo-based professional, still looking for his maiden title on the Aircel PGTI, made a speedy recovery thereafter as it rained birdies for him.
The 37-year-old Sri Lankan sank a 12-footer for birdie on the fourth and then kept landing his approach shots within eight feet to accumulate birdies on the sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 15th. He ended the day with bogey-birdie on the last two holes to sign off with a hard-earned 67.
Rohana said, “I kept giving myself birdie opportunities with my consistent hitting. I also did not miss any putts. It was important to adjust to the speed of the greens after the rain came down in round two. I managed to do that well. I’ll draw inspiration from the fact that I have performed well at this venue in the past as I won the Qualifying School event here back in 2003. My aim would be to shoot a four under.”
Mithun Perera (70-68-67) is the other Sri Lankan in the top four. Perera’s round of 67 on Friday featured five birdies against a lone bogey. He is currently two strokes off the pace in joint second along with Shankar Das (69-69-67), who shot a bogey-free round and R Murthy (69-68-68).
Vijay Kumar occupies fifth place at seven under 206 while overnight leader Toran Bikram Shahi and Shamim Khan are in tied sixth at six under 207.
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