Hitaashee Bakshi fired a round of 70 (-2) to lead the Hero Women’s Indian Open by three shots at the 54-hole mark at DLF Golf and Country Club.
The 21-year-old held the lead after two rounds and began the day with a birdie at the first before adding another on the fifth.
Bakshi made a double bogey on the seventh after a mistake on her approach, but bounced back with birdies on nine, 10 and 12.
She dropped another shot on 14 but immediately made a birdie on 15, had another bogey on 17 and made a great par-save on 18 for a round of two-under and to lead with a score of nine-under-par.
“Today was an exhausting round for me, especially the back nine because I feel the rough did get the better of me, but finally it’s over so it’s good,” said Bakshi. “I was just playing one shot at a time and seeing how it went.
“The double bogey on the seventh was me making a chunk from 90 yards from the middle of the fairway. That was something I was not expecting, but I held my calm and my caddie helped as well with a pep talk from the seventh green to the eighth tee box.
“[On 18] I just told my caddie, we were going to go for a bogey and if I make it that’s good or else I will give myself a chance for a par putt and my chip shot ended up landing to three feet. It’s been such a long day and the last couple of holes I was making birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey, so for me it was difficult to know if I was still leading or not.”
If she were to win the title on Sunday, Bakshi would be the first Indian to win in nine years since Aditi Ashok in 2016 and only the second Indian to win the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
She added: “I love crowds, it’s so nice to see them coming out here and giving time to my game. I’m really honoured and grateful that they’ve come to watch. I’m very excited and I said it in the press conference at the start of the week that nine is a very lucky number in India, so let’s do it.”
England’s Alice Hewson is in outright second place on six-under-par after firing a round of 69 (-3) on day three in India.
The three-time LET winner had five birdies, four bogeys and two pars in her first 11 holes of the day but ended the day in style with a birdie-birdie finish.
“It was a mixed bag out there today for sure, I think I went through eight holes out there where I didn’t make a single par and I was just alternating between birdies and bogeys,” said Hewson. “It was nice to see that many birdies on the card especially around this golf course. Hopefully, a few less bogeys tomorrow would be nice.
“I definitely wasn’t chasing. If you hit any loose shots around here, you’re penalised so heavily. It was a case of missing a green and not making up-and-down or I drove it into the rough and had to chip out. You have to take your medicine around here, but it was great to give myself some opportunities even though there were some loose shots.
“I think I’ve finished birdie-birdie twice now, which is nice because these are some really tough holes and some holes I didn’t necessarily finish on too well last year. To come out this year and be able to get a bit of revenge on them has been nice.
“This is such a unique golf course and you really can’t push out there because you’ll get penalised instantly. I’m going to go and do what I always try and do, hit lots of fairways and lots of greens and give myself as many opportunities as I can.”
India’s Pranavi Urs sits in solo third place on four-under-par after a round of 73 (+1), which included a double bogey, a bogey and two birdies.
“I could have been a lot better, I didn’t hole any putts and didn’t hit the ball well,” said Urs. “Overall, it was a struggle, I had to keep it together because DLF is a golf course where you have to have a lot of patience. I did fairly well considering how I hit the ball and putted, hopefully I can go low tomorrow.
“I was patient and kept my cool, I stayed in the present and didn’t think too much because once you start doing that DLF is going to be a little complicated. Less is more over here and I handled myself pretty well.
“It’s amazing how golf is growing in India especially to have two Indians being in the leading group and in contention. It’s pretty good and shows how much golf in India is growing especially women’s golf. I’m excited.”
Five players are in a tie for fourth place with Indian duo Avani Prashanth and Zara Anand alongside Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson on two-under-par.
A trio of players round out the top 10 with Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjäll, India’s Vani Kapoor and Germany’s Verena Gimmy on one-under.
The final round will begin at 9 am (local time) with the leading group teeing off at 11.01 (am) at DLF Golf and Country Club.
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