Tough battle ahead, but it is still wide open

From being a battle for survival, it is now time for rearguard action. A birdie on the seventh, my 16th hole, just as the hooter went off was a nice one at the end of a long Saturday at the Hero Indian Open.

I finished the third round on Saturday, three-under through 16 holes.

After being five-over after two rounds, I am now two-over for the tournament with 20 holes to play. It does look a lot better than it did in the morning.

In the morning as we came towards the end of the second round, it was a crucial stage. I had to stay focused especially after back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th in the second round.

Six-over at that stage, it was touch and go. That birdie on the 18th was much needed and I just went for the green. I had survived to fight another day. In a lowscoring tournament like this, each shot counts.

After the second round, I thought a serious charge in the third could still give me an outside chance. If I could get to even or even one-under and the leaders do not run away, it is possible to make up 4-5 shots in the final round.

Birdies have not been easy to come by and they have to be earned on this course. So, when you give up shots, they hurt a lot.

The positive is that I have got a lot of birdies in each of the rounds. There were five each in the first two rounds. Yet I was five-over after 36 holes.

The third round has been better, but again I gave away three bogeys. By the way I have six birdies in 16 holes in the third, making that 16 in all. And I am still over par. That has been my story this week.

Before I sign off, a word on my good friend, SSP (Chawrasia). The difference between him and the others has been that he has managed to restrict his bogeys as he keeps a share of the lead with Eddie Pepperell and Carlos Pigem, after 11 holes in the third round.

In the top half, a dozen are within two shots with more than a round to go. That means it is still anyone’s tournament.

Birdies have not been easy to come by and they have to be earned on this course. When you give up shots, they hurt a lot.