Adilson da Silva fired a Saturday 69 at Delhi Golf Club to reach nine-under-par after three rounds at the Indian Open, where he shared fifth with 18 holes to play.
The Brazilian was brought to Zimbabwe as a youngster to hone his golf game and he grew into a veteran winner on the Sunshine Tour with 12 titles.
He earned a spot at this week’s tournament through his Asian Tour ranking, and goes into Sunday five shots behind 54-hole leader SSP Chawrasia, who had his cousin on the bag.
‘He’s still learning and very young, but it’s quite fun,’ said the Indian. ‘When I played in India he was always the caddie for me, so I had to go with him again.’
Da Silva shot a bogey-free 66 on Friday and will need a similarly low score in order to catch up in the final round. Olympic qualifying is another facet of the pressure that is mounting for the Brazilian as he looks to stay in the mix for a spot in Rio.
Local hero Chawrasia made a double bogey on Thursday and a bogey on Friday, outside of which he’s been flawless and sits at 12-under-par, two shots clear of second-placed Terry Pilkadaris. Fellow Indians Anirban Lahiri and Rashid Khan shared third place on 10-under.
The leading South African in the field was Jbe’ Kruger, who shot 71 on Saturday to share 28th place ahead of the final round.
