Gaganjeet Bhullar held a one-shot lead after the third round of the Fiji International on Saturday as Ernie Els began his charge at the Natadola Bay Golf Club.
Ben Campbell, who started the day with a four-shot lead, held on to top spot for most of the day before a late stumble with a bogey and double bogey saw him slip two shots off the pace.
Bhullar, seeking his first European Tour title after 106 starts, signed for a 69 to get to eight under 208 and lead Australians Andrew Dodt, Jarryd Felton, Jake McLeod and Terry Pilkadaris by one with Campbell a stroke further back.
Four-time major winner Ernie Els closed at seventh with two birdies going into the final day, only three strokes behind Bhullar.
Bhullar, who has had three top tens in his last four appearances, showed excellent scrambling with just one bogey to go with four birdies in round three.
“I had a great start to the day,” the 30-year-old Indian said.
“Despite the windy conditions, I kept the ball in play and actually I holed a lot of really tricky putts today.”
McLeod shot a third-round 70, with Felton and Pilkadaris each registering 71, while two time European Tour winner Dodt was left frustrated after a level par 72.
Campbell dropped three shots in his last three holes en route to a 77 while Els’ two-birdie finish gave him a 69.
The South African drawcard turned at level par before lifting his game with gains on the 11th, 17th and 18th.
“It’s been a while so it’s very nice,” Els said.
“We’re having a good week, myself, my daughter, my wife – we’re enjoying Fiji. The locals have been wonderful, everyone’s been great, so it’s nice to play a tournament and actually have a sniff at it tomorrow.”
Lahiri battles to even-par second round, lies T-16 at WGC
India’s Anirban Lahiri battled to an even-par 70 to slip to tied 16th spot after the second day of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Akron, USA.
Following on his first-round score of five-under 65, Lahiri is now five-under for 36 holes but slipped from overnight tied seventh to tied 16th.
Overall, Lahiri had three birdies and three bogeys for a par round at the Firestone Country Club yesterday.
Meanwhile, young Shubhankar Sharma had a miserable second day at the event with a disappointing nine-over 79 that took him to 11-over 151. He was last at the 71st spot and had no birdies against nine bogeys on the second day.
Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood had seven birdies in his 63 as he took a share of the lead alongside Ian Poulter (62-67) and Justin Thomas (65-64) at the halfway stage.
Tiger Woods moved up from tied 14th to tied 10th as he added a two-under 68 to his first round 66.
After putting beautifully in first day when he also hit some great approaches, things were not as simple on the second day for Lahiri.
He hit seven of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in regulation but missed a couple of short putts, one from five feet and two others from 10 and 14 feet.
On first day he had no misses inside 10 feet but in the second round Lahiri did chip on the eighth hole, his second last hole of the day.
Starting at the par-4 10th, Lahiri’s 117-yard approach to seven feet set himself up for the birdie on the hole, but on the par-4 11th, his tee shot went 292 yards to the left side of the fairway.
His second shot then went 117 yards to the right greenside bunker, and he came out needing to hole a 20-footer for par and he failed for a bogey.
On par-4 13th hole, Lahiri hit his approach shot to inside four feet for a birdie, but missed his par putt from 6 feet on 17th for a 3-putt bogey from 26 feet.
Lahiri bogeyed sixth, but holed a chip from 38 feet for a birdie that ensured a par round.
With inputs from AFP and PTI
