Golfer Shaurya leads by five shots with fiery 61 at CG Open 2025

Raipur: Delhi golfer Shaurya Bhattacharya carded a fiery eight-under 61 that moved him five shots clear at the top at a total of 21-under 186 on day three at Rs 1 crore SECL Chhattisgarh Open 2025 presented by Chhattisgarh Tourism being played at Nava Raipur.

Shaurya Bhattacharya (64-61-61), a winner on the PGTI in his rookie season last year, moved up one spot from his overnight tied second position as a result of his second consecutive 61.

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja (66-63-62) shot a 62 on Thursday that propelled him 13 spots to tied second place at 16-under 291.

Khalin Joshi (64-60-67), the halfway leader, returned a third round of 67 to stay in contention as he shared second place with Thangaraja.

Sixteen-year-old rookie Manoj S (65) of Bengaluru, playing only his third professional event, was tied fourth at 15-under 192 along with Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan (64) and Bengalurus M Dharma (66).

Shaurya Bhattacharya, the 2024 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, had a quiet front-nine where he sank three birdies in exchange for a bogey. However, Shaurya hit his stride on the back-nine where he collected six birdies. The 22-year-old drove the green on the Par-4 12th, landed it within a foot of the flag on two occasions and chipped-in on the 17th.

Among the prominent names, Udayan Mane (64) was tied seventh at 14-under 193 while Om Prakash Chouhan (65) was tied 24th at 10-under 197.