New Delhi: India’s Mukesh Kumar took the lead after the second round while Lee Sung of South Korea captivated with a hole-in-one in the fog-hit Panasonic India Open golf tournament in New Delhi yesterday.
Kumar dominated play with five birdies for an eight-under-par 136 total on the third day of the Asia Tour event which had been earlier reduced to 54 holes and three rounds.
Kumar, who has won over 120 professional titles in his career, gave himself a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the $400,000 event.
“I will probably be a little more aggressive tomorrow as the field is very strong and there are a lot of good players chasing me,” said the 51-year-old.
But it was Lee who brightened up proceedings at Delhi Golf Club, which saw seven hours of play being lost on the first two days due to heavy fog.
“I jumped for joy when I saw the ball disappear into the hole. This is the second hole-in-one that I have had in my career. The last one was in 2003,” said Lee.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (69) and Mithun Perera (68) of Sri Lanka shared second place with Indian duo Khalin Joshi (71) and Shankar Das (67).
Perera needs to win the tournament to secure his full playing rights on the Asian Tour in 2017 before heading into the season finale next week.