Jyoti, Gaurav joint leader on Day 3

Jyoti, Gaurav joint leader on Day 3

New Delhi, September 21: Jyoti Randhawa's vice-like grip on the Xerox Open Golf Championship finally slackened on the third day, but with none of the other pros really making a charge, he was lucky enough to enter the final day as joint leader, along with Gaurav Ghei.

So, it is going to be a Jyoti-Gaurav battle on the final day. Both are tied for the first place at seven-under 209 and the settings are right for exciting climax. Both are working under the watchful eyes of Australian coach Kel Llewellyn. Both have excellent short game and are blessed with tremendous powers of concentration.

Jyoti has a slight edge over Gaurav in his driving ability, but the latter has improved by leaps and bounds in this area of the game in the last few months. Jyoti is on a roll, but Gaurav is known for his last-day antiques. Personally, I can't wait to reach the course tomorrow.

However, the leaders will have to be extremely wary of the two gentlemen from Calcutta lurking two strokes behind them -- Arjun Atwal and Indrajit Bhalotia.

For a moment, it looked like Arjun Atwal was going to burn up the course but an unfortunate double bogey at the halfway stage of his third round ruined his chances. That shook him up and he finally finished the day at two-over 74. But Atwal can catch fire at the drop of the hat and two strokes is not enough cushion for the leaders.

Bhalotia was tied with the leaders but made unfortunate bogies on the 16th and 17th holes. However, after winning the Wills Southern Open about a fortnight ago, he is a changed man and as far as I am concerned, he is the Dark Horse.

It was a bit of a letdown that the pros did not exploit the perfect conditions today. The only man who did something noticeable was Vijay Kumar who shot a four-under 68. The Lion of Lucknow has been very solid over the last two rounds, but he must be cringing about his five-over 77 on the opening day.

One man about whom I must make a mention is Kapil Dev. He played a two-over 74 round and is currently placed 28th in the entire field and second in the amateur section. That is incredible performance from somebody who started playing golf just a few years back. Kapil has improve a lot in recent months and I won't be surprised if he realises his cherished dream of representing the country in 2002 Asian Games.

(Tiger Sports Marketing)

Scores (after 54 holes): 209 -- Gaurav Ghei (72, 66, 71), Jyoti Randhawa (68, 68, 73); 211 -- Indrajit Bhalotia (69, 70, 72), Arjun Atwal (70, 67, 74); 213 -- Shiv Prakash (70, 70, 73); 214 -- Vijay Kumar (77, 69, 68), Harmeet Kahlon (69, 72, 73); 215 -- Amit Dube (70, 74, 71); 217 -- Jeev Milkha Singh (70, 71, 76), Rohtas Singh (72, 75, 70), Digvijay Singh (76, 71, 70); Amateurs: 222 -- Amit Luthra (75, 73, 74); 226 -- Kapil Dev (76, 76, 74); 226 -- Rahil Gangjee (76, 77, 73).