Ghei breathing down Vijay Kumar's neck

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 25. The steeper the climb, the faster he runs. And nothing inspires Gaurav Ghei more than the sheer sight of the summit, not the least in The Hindu Open golf championship at the Cosmopolitan Club, an event he has won three times.

Like a thoroughbred colt, the urbane pro from Delhi always reserves his best for the last and it is Ghei, more than anyone else in the field who might have a chance to catch up with the tournament leader Vijay Kumar from Lucknow on Saturday when the final round will be played.

When a man can shoot successive 71s in the first two rounds when, by his own admission he was playing poorly, it was not at all surprising that Ghei fired a three - under 69 on Friday to take the second place, four shots adrift of Vijay Kumar, who had a third round 71.

Vijay Kumar, the defending champion, has a three - round aggregate of 207 and Ghei is on 211. Four strokes is a nice cushion to have teeing off on the final day but Vijay Kumar would recall that Ghei made up a seven stroke deficit to win in spectacular style here five years ago.

The talented young Amish Jaitha from Pune and Mukesh Kumar from Mhow are two strokes behind Ghei sharing the third place at 213 and there is the promise of some rousing final day drama.

The first Indian to qualify for the British Open (1997), Ghei has since faced a few injury problems and last year struggled to groove his game with a changed swing. But things have been slowly coming together this year for the Delhi pro who won the Rs.20 lakh Wills Masters and had also been doing well overseas.

Ghei started in superb style with back to back birdies on the first and second. He had five more birdies along the way and if he had not missed a short putt on the eighth before three putting for a bogey on the 13th, he might very well have finished five under the card.

Vijay Kumar hit 13 greens on regulation but that might have been small consolation to the champion who needed 29 putts to finish the round. It was a mixed bag for him as he had two birdies apart from an eagle on the sixth, clinched with an 8ft putt, but the double bogey on the fifth, where his tee shot was way off the mark, was a blot on his card.

``I know I am not putting well enough but I am confident that I will win tomorrow,'' said Vijay Kumar.

Amish Jaitha doesn't seem to lack confidence either. The elegant young man from Pune turned in a card featuring three successive birdies, on the fifth, sixth and seventh. On the back nine he shot two birdies but he double bogeyed the 13th.

``I should get out of this habit of messing up my card with the odd double bogey. Otherwise I am happy with the way I played,'' said Jaitha.

Meanwhile, Feroz Ali, this tournament's runner up last year, shot the best round of the day, a four under 68 which was only good enough to get him as far as the eighth place. He had three birdies and an eagle and lost a stroke only on the last hole when his second shot hit a tree.

In the amateur event, overnight leader Sandeep Syal pulled out because of prior commitments in Korea and two Sri Lankans, Anura Rohana (75) and Tissa Chandradasa (73) shared the lead (aggregate 222).

lLeading pro scores: Vijay Kumar 68, 68, 71 - 207; Gaurav Ghei 71, 71, 69 - 211; Amish Jaitha 73, 70, 70 - 213; Mukesh Kumar 72, 69, 72 - 213; Harmeet Kahlon 70, 75, 69 - 214; Sanjay Kumar 71, 73, 70 - 214; Shiv Prakash 71, 72, 71 - 214; Firoz Ali 75, 72, 68 - 215; Indrajit Bhalotia 71, 75, 69 - 215; Basad Ali 72, 69, 74 - 215.

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