South Africa’s Brandon Stone heads into the final round of the Hero Indian Open at DLF Golf and Country Club one stroke behind the leader Eugenio Chacarra.
Spaniard Chacarra started the day locked alongside defending champion Keita Nakajima at the top of the leaderboard on four under par but made two bogeys on the front nine to sit two shots off the pace at the turn.
But as his playing partner Nakajima’s run of 14 successive pars finally came to an end with a bogey on the 15th, Chacarra made a birdie at the same hole to grab a share of the lead.
And with Nakajima failing to save par at the difficult 17th, Chacarra found himself at the summit.
Chacarra went for the 18th green in two but drew a tough lie in the rough and had to make do with a closing par, a round of 73 and a one-shot lead over closest challengers Stone and Nakajima.
Stone notched a birdie on the last to sign for a 71 – the joint-lowest round of the day – while Nakajima carded two bogeys and no birdies in his 74.
Chacarra was given an early reminder of how difficult this week’s host course is as he surrendered a bogey after missing his par putt from four feet at the 1st on Saturday, and he continued to struggle for momentum on the front nine.
Another shot went at the 7th, but with Nakajima standing still at the summit, he was only two strokes off the lead.
And after a long wait, Chacarra’s patience paid off as he finally got his first birdie of the day from 12 feet on the 15th before going agonisingly close to getting another at the next.
He continued to give himself chances coming home but had to be content with pars on the 17th and 18th.
“It was windy. It was probably the most windy day we had out there so I knew I needed to have a lot of patience today,” Chacarra said.
“I think I played great. My ball-striking was incredible like it’s been all week, so that was nice.
“I’m very pleased with this score, I think it was playing tough. This course, we know what it is, one bad swing and you can get a big number.
“So I’m pleased with it but it’s time to reset, talk to my team and see what we can do better for tomorrow.”
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Jason Butler/Getty Images
