Gurgaon: C Muniyappa held his nerve and
overcame a final hole drama to hang on to his wafer-thin lead
as seven Indians broke into the top 10 and tied places after
the penultimate round of the Hero Honda Indian Open golf
tournament here today.
Muniyappa's modest one-under 71 took his 54 hole tally to
one under 26 and hot on his wheels from one stroke behind are
compatriots Digvijay Singh (71) and Harinder Gupta (67),
besides Australian Marcus Both (67) and Korean Lee Sung (72).
Veteran Mukesh Kumar (70) lie ninth at 290, one shot
ahead of Gaurav Ghei (68), Ashok Kumar (68) and Amandeep Johl
(69) who share the 10th place along with four others.
Muniyappa, however, endured some drama before being able to sign his scorecard.
He had been in greenside bunker in two on the par-five
18th and when clearing a wrapper from behind the ball, he
appeared to brush the sand with his club head.
This could have led to a penalty shot but after reviewing
television footage and consulting rules officials, who stood
next to the bunker, tournament director David Parkin cleared
the Indian of any infringement.
"I am very, very happy that is all over. It was a nervous
wait," said a relieved Muniyappa.
The 32-year-old, a professional since 1996, is currently
enjoying the finest week of his career and is exceeding all
expectations. He has two top-20 finishes to his name this year
on the Asian Tour and has won once on the local Indian Tour in
an event last season.
His inexperience leading such a big tournament also
showed on the par-four 17th, where he hit his tee shot with a
four iron into water and took bogey.
However, he showed his class earlier in the round when
having fallen off the lead he birdied three holes on the trot
from sixth.
Among others, US-based Arjun Atwal (211) turned in to be
tied 17th, while rising star Gaganjeet Bhullar carded 68 to
soar to tied 20th at 210.
Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra (214) brought home his
first over-par card and today's five pushed him down to tied
31st.
Former US Open champions Michael Campbell (221) could not
impress either and slid to tied 66th after going six-over 78.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, October 10, 2009, 18:28