Reuters/New Delhi


Local favourite SSP Chowrasia will head into today’s final round of the Indian Open with a two-shot lead in his pocket and a third European Tour title in sight.
After going 52 holes without dropping a shot at the Delhi Golf Course (DGC), his bogey-free run came to an end on the 17th  but a two-under-par 69 was enough to finish ahead of holder Siddikur Rahman on 12-under 201.
“I missed with my eight-iron on the 17th or else I would have still been bogey-free,” said Chowrasia who claimed both his previous European titles on home soil.
“I want to think and play positive on the final day. The final round is always special so I will play aggressively,” he added.
Chowrasia, the son of a greenkeeper, made a birdie-birdie start and got a lucky break on the eighth when his tee shot deflected off a tree and bounced 40 metres to the edge of the fairway.
Bangladeshi Siddikur, who won the trophy two years ago before it was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, also birdied the opening hole but fell four shots behind after a double bogey on 15.
“I had a nice rhythm and picked up a couple of shots until the double bogey,” the DGC specialist said after his 70.
“I managed to recover well and made a great par save on 17 and then managed to birdie the last so overall I am happy with one-under today.”
In his 11 starts at the DGC, Siddikur has won once at the 2013 Indian Open and registered another nine top-10 finishes.
“The birdie at the last was very important. Anything can happen in this game. I am looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can play the way I did on Thursday,” he said.
Australian Marcus Fraser was third on 206 after a 67. Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra made a brilliant eagle on the par-five 18th to card a 65, the lowest round of the day, and join Thai Prayad Marksaeng on 207. Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez returned a second successive 71 to close on 212.

Goosen grabs Riviera lead
Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen drained a 30-foot birdie putt at his final hole on Friday to grab the second-round lead at the Northern Trust Open.
A firm, fast Riviera Country Club course was giving players fits in the $6.7 million US PGA Tour event.
Goosen fired a one-under par 70 for a 36-hole total of six-under 136 and a one-stroke lead over Canadian Graham DeLaet and Americans Ryan Moore and Justin Thomas.
Moore had four birdies in his three-under 68, the only blemish on his card a bogey at the 18th.
DeLaet had five birdies and one bogey in his four-under par 67—which matched the best round of the day—while Thomas posted a 69 highlighted by an eagle at the par-five first hole.
Argentinian veteran Angel Cabrera, a former US Open and Masters champion, was alone in fifth place after a 68 for 138.
Goosen said his birdie at his final hole, the par-four ninth, was “a pretty good bonus.” “It wasn’t a very good shot in there with a sand wedge into the green, but it’s a tough hole there. Any time I birdie on that hole is good,” he said.
The 46-year-old, seeking his first US tour victory since the 2009 Transitions Championship, was among six players who shared the first-round lead on five-under par. He was pleased with his performance in the testing conditions.
“I didn’t hit the ball as good as I hit it yesterday,” he said. “Today was a little bit scrambling... but I got it up-and-down quite a few times, and that kept the round going. The thing is, if you miss the fairway, you can’t even stop it with a wedge out of the rough.”
Goosen, who has struggled to regain full fitness since back surgery in 2012, said he was excited to be in contention.
“It’s been such a long time,” he said. “Who knows how my game is going to hold up, but I’m feeling good.”
For Moore, the difficult conditions made his closing bogey a little easier to swallow. “It was a great, solid round of golf,” Moore said. “The greens are so firm and so bouncy. I hit a handful of what I would say are as good of shots as I could possibly hit the last couple of days and end up with 45-footers.”
Defending champion Bubba Watson, whose win here last year proved a springboard to a second Masters title, carved out a two-under 69 to head a group on three-under 139. He was joined by England’s Paul Casey (69), rising US star Jordan Spieth (70), Derek Fathauer (73) and JB Holmes (69).
Ko stays ahead in Australia
Newly-crowned world number one Lydia Ko shot a one-under-par 72  to retain a share of the lead heading into the final round of the women’s Australian Open in Melbourne, the third event on this year’s LPGA Tour, yesterday. The 17-year-old from New Zealand had three birdies and two bogeys to finish at seven-under on a hot and humid day at Royal Melbourne.
“You hit in on to the green and you have this humongous break,” Ko said. “It’s tough in every aspect ... it does feel like a major.”
Ko finished the round tied with another teen, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who also shot 72 after starting her day with a bogey on the first hole.
South Korea’s Amy Yang carded a 70 to be outright third, one shot behind the leading pair at six-under while Juliette Granada of Paraguay and Australia’s Katherine Kirk were a further two shots back.
Both shot rounds of 70 with Granada reeling off four birdies in her last 11 holes after making a double bogey on the par-three fifth and Kirk making five bogeys in six holes on the back nine.
South Korea’s Jang Ha-na, who had started the day level with Ko and Jutanugarn, fell four shots behind after a 76.
Less than three weeks ago, Ko became the youngest golfer to hold top spot in the world rankings when she tied for second place at the LPGA’s season-opening event in Florida. Tiger Woods had previously held the record when he reached number one in 1997 at 21, while Shin Ji-yai held the women’s record after reaching top spot in 2010 aged 22.