Yannik Paul stretched his lead at the top of the Hero Indian Open leaderboard to five shots after signing for a 69 on Friday.
The German began the day with a slender one-stroke advantage but made four birdies and a single bogey to move to 10 under par and open up a commanding lead.
Home favourite Angad Cheema, Germany’s Marcel Siem, Iceland’s Gudmundur Kristjansson and Finn Mikko Korhonen were in a four-way tie for second on five under, with Dutchman Joost Luiten and India’s Honey Baisoya another shot further back.
Kazuki Higa and Adrien Saddier became the first players to shoot bogey-free rounds this week with scores of 66 and 68 respectively and they sit on three under.
JT Schaper is the best-placed South African (T19) on one under.
Paul was pleased with his performance and pinpointed patience as being key this week.
“I played well. I probably played almost better today than yesterday,” he said. “I felt the pins were in tougher spots today so you had a lot of downhill putts where you think you have a good look but it’s actually two or three cups’ break.
“I think the key part is just staying patient. You have quite a few wedges but the pins are so tucked and the course, in general, is so firm, so you feel like you’ve got to make some birdies but par is fine too. I just have to stay patient and just focus on myself and see where I end up.
“I like India, it’s my first time in India. Every tournament I’m going to, I’m trying to win, so I’ll just see what the weekend brings and take it from there.”
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
