Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Feb 27 : Delhi's Shaurya Bhattacharya carded a fiery eight-under 61 on Day Three that moved him five shots clear at the top with a total of 21-under 186 at the INR 1 crore Chhattisgarh Open 2025 at the Fairway Golf & Lake Resort here on Thursday.

Bhattacharya (64-61-61), a winner on the PGTI in his rookie season last year, moved up one spot from his overnight tied second position as a result of his second consecutive 61.

Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja (66-63-62) shot a 62 on Thursday that propelled him 13 spots to tied second place at 16-under 291. Khalin Joshi (64-60-67), the halfway leader, returned a third round of 67 to stay in contention as he shared second place with Thangaraja. The 16-year-old rookie Manoj S. (65) of Bengaluru, playing only his third professional event, was tied fourth at 15-under 192 along with Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan (64) and Bengaluru's M Dharma (66).

Bhattacharya, the 2024 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, had a quiet front nine where he sank three birdies in exchange for a bogey. However, Bhattacharya hit his stride on the back nine, where he collected six birdies. The 22-year-old drove the green on the Par-4 12th, landed it within a foot of the flag on two occasions, and chipped in on the 17th.

Bhattacharya, now the overwhelming favourite to win the title, said, 'I hit my approaches really well today, and that's exactly what you need on this course. I didn't have a great start to the season, so I'm looking forward to finishing well here in Raipur. I'm carrying the confidence from my victory last year. I will look to continue what I did in the first three rounds. I just want to keep the momentum going and execute my game plan.'

Thangaraja mixed nine birdies with two bogeys on a day he landed most of his shots within seven feet of the pin. Thangaraja, who won his last title in 2023, will be among the contenders on Friday. Khalin Joshi, a winner of six titles, including one on the international stage, kept himself in the fray with a 67 that featured five birdies and three bogeys.

Among the prominent names, Udayan Mane (64) was tied seventh at 14-under 193, while Om Prakash Chouhan (65) was tied 24th at 10-under 197.

/IANS