Cunning insight of maiden title

Cunning insight of maiden title

New Delhi, March 18: There is so much he has done and been through, that the only line which could possibly rankle this poised and smiling 41-year-old Arizona-based golfer may well be: Mike Cunning, waiting for his first APGA title.

Meanwhile, the Indians continue to hope for a three-in-a-row with Yusuf Ali, two strokes adrift, in the joint second place and Jyoti Randhawa, three behind the leader. Arjun Atwal, who had a bad day, and Vivek Bhandari are among the three in joint 12th place, six strokes behind Cunning.

Yusuf, who virtually grew up on the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course and from where his home is only a stone's throw, added a 67 to the 70 and 66 he had on the first two days.

Casas, who logged an eagle for the third day in a row had an up-and-down day. However, he did not seem unduly disappointed with his par round that placed him joint second with Yusuf, who though he has been playing pro golf since the age of 14 and from 1992 has never won a title, even at home.

The highly focussed Jyoti Randhawa for most part of the day seemed to be battling with his putter. Though he read the lines well, and later claimed that he putted better than the first two days, saw at least four to five putts stop short by a foot or so. Randhawa had just one bogey -- on the eighth -- and three birdies for a two-under 70, which placed him three strokes behind Cunning.

Ashok Kumar led the amateurs with a one-over card of 73 and he is now four under for three rounds. Rahil Gangjee carded a par 72 to go with his 70 and 73 on the first two days and he is now one over. The third placed amateur is Shiv Kapur (one over for three days) and behind him are Simarjeet Singh and Rahul Ganapathy at two over.

After three rounds: 201 - Mike Cunning (US) 68, 67, 66; 203 - Yusuf Ali (Ind) 70, 66, 67; Felix Casas (Phi) 66, 65, 72; 204 - Jyoti Randawa (Ind) 66, 68, 70; Trevor Immelman (RSA) 70, 67, 67; 205 - Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 70, 66, 69; Gilberto Morales (Ven) 72, 67, 66; Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70, 70, 65; 206 - Justin Hobday (RSA) 69, 69, 68; Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68, 70, 68; Andre Cruse (RSA) 69, 69, 68; 207 - Arjun Atwal (Ind) 68, 66, 73; Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 70, 68, 69; Jim Rutledge (Can) 68, 71, 68; 208 - Nico Van Rensburg (RSA) 68, 66, 74; Yeh Wei Tze (Tpe) 70, 68, 70; Robert Huxtable (US) 67, 71, 70; Nam Young Woo (Kor) 67, 71, 70; Sammy Daniels (RSA) 68, 71, 69; Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70, 69, 69; James Kingston (RSA) 70, 70, 68; Ross Bain (Sco) 70, 70, 68; Andrew Bonhomme (Aust) 70, 70, 68; Simon Dyson (Aust) 66, 74, 68; 209 - Chung Joon (Kor) 67, 70, 72; Mardan Mamat (Sing) 70, 70, 69; 210 - Lin Fu-Chin (Tpe) 70, 65, 75; Adrian Percey (US) 68, 70, 72; Gary Rusnak (US) 68, 70, 72; Chris Williams (RSA)70, 69, 71; Danny Zarate (Phi) 68, 71, 71; Charles Challen (GBR) 73, 67, 70