Feroz Ali poised to annex HT ProGolf title

On a day when gusty winds dictated terms to the best of golfers, Feroz Ali brought into play all his experience to give himself a four-stroke cushion going into the final round of the Rs 800,000 Hindustan Times-sponsored HT ProGolf 2002, being played at the par-72, 7,343-yard Jaypee Greens Golf Resort.

In the 17th leg of the 2001-02 season's Hero Honda Golf Tour, Feroz tallied five-under 211, thanks to his third round score of one-under 71.

Defending champion Gaurav Ghei of Delhi made birdies on the final two holes to put a poor day behind him and settled at second position with a tally of one-under 215.

Lucknow's Vijay Kumar sat just one stroke behind Gaurav at level-par 216, while Meerut's Digvijay Singh was fourth at one-over 217.

Rookie Kolkata golfer, Rahil Gangjee tied for the second position till the 16th hole, floundered in the final two holes to end the day at fifth spot with an aggregate of two-over 218.

Year 2002 seems to be lucky for Feroz. The Kolkatan started the year in brilliant fashion with a resounding win at the Hero Honda Open-Pune. Today, the 31-year old placed himself in line for his second title of the year and third of the season with a brilliant display of golf in tough weather conditions.

"It was extremely windy today. Controlling the ball was almost impossible," said the golfer, who played percentage golf all day. "I was just aiming to keep the ball in play. To attack, which is my natural instinct, would have proved suicidal on such a day," he added. "The Jaypee Greens course is a brilliantly planned one and though I have a four-stroke lead anything could happen tomorrow. The water-bodies and the bunkers will almost certainly come into play on a bad or miscued shot," he added.

Feroz started the say in fine fashion with a birdie on the first, and followed it up with another on the fourth. However, immediately after, he dropped a shot on the 5th. He then went on to par the remaining 13 holes.

"I am happy with the way I played today. My strategy will remain the same tomorrow. Play it safe and sink the putts," he concluded.

Ghei's round, by his own high standard, can best be described as forgettable. The India Cements-sponsored pro was a shadow of the player he was on the first two days. After hitting the ball so well on first two days, faltered today.

"I lost my rhythm early on and thereafter, it was difficult to rediscover it in such windy conditions," said Gaurav.

Gaurav had bogeys on the 5th, 8th, 12th 13th and 16th before making up for lost ground with birdies in the final two holes for a three-over 75.

On the 17th, he drained a difficult 15-footer while his sand-wedge on the following hole placed his ball short of three feet for a birdie putt. "Conditions are tough and so is Feroz as an opponent. Tomorrow, I will have to play to three or four under if I am to win," concluded the winner of the inaugural HT Pro-Golf 2000 at Gurgaon.

Vijay Kumar is enjoying a slow but steady return to the limelight. The thrice Order of Merit winner had a very average 2001-02 Hero Honda Golf Tour season before he returned a win at the Royal Challenge Grand Prix in Noida in late December.

"The problem lay with my swing, which I have managed to correct," said the longest hitter on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. "I am just five strokes behind the leader and on a course such as this, anything can happen," said Vijay, who shot a round of one-over 73 which included a birdie on the fourth and bogeys on the fifth and tenth.

Chatfield set to annex amateur title: Garry Chatfield continued his dominance over the amateur field with his second successive score of 78 handing him a tally of 16-over 232. Arjun Singh continued in the second position at 238.

SCORES (after 54 holes): 211 _ Feroz Ali (72,68,71); 215 _ Gaurav Ghei (70, 70,75); 216 _ Vijay Kumar (70,73,73); 217 _ Digvijay Singh (73,71,73); 218 _ Rahil Gangjee (72,71,75; 219 _ Mukesh Kumar (75,72,72), SSP Chowrasia (73,73,73); 220 _ Amit Dube (75,77,68); 221 _ Akbar Ali (72,75,74), Minky Barbora (71,75,75), KS Sibia (70,76,75), Shiv Prakash(72,72,77); 222 _ C Muniyappa (79,68,75); Rohtas Singh (76,68,78);

Amateurs: 232 _ Garry Charfield (76,78,78); 238 _ Arjun Singh (78,80,80)