McARTHUR NOW TRAILS BY FOUR SHOTS IN INDIA

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT FROM

NEIL AHERN, European Tour Press Officer 

A six-shot swing at the top of the leaderboard left Andrew McArthur four shots behind India’s Shiv Kapur going into the final day of the Gujarat Kensville Challenge, but the Glaswegian still retains hope of a second European Challenge Tour title.

Kapur produced a master-class on home soil as he carded a course record seven under par 65 to take a healthy lead into Championship Sunday while McArthur could only sign for a one under par 71 to move to nine under for the tournament.

McArthur, pictured, who was two shots clear after day two, was not too despondent after a steady day which yielded three birdies and two bogeys but he knows that he will need something special if he is to stand any chance of preventing a second home victory in three years at the €200,000 event.

“I actually played really well,” said the 33 year old from Windyhill, Glasgow. “I definitely didn’t putt as well as previous days and had three three putts from the fringe, so that was disappointing.

“I seemed to get really tired out there but I played good golf for the most part. Shiv just played great. He had a couple of unbelievable up and downs which kept it ticking for him.

“I just need to get off to a quick start now, do the same as I did on the first day, when I got a few 30 footers and hit it a few right at the pin. You want to be within a couple going into the back nine to get amongst it.

“Shiv didn’t miss a chance today and I just left too many out there but tomorrow is another day.”

After making the perfect start with a birdie at the first, Kapur rolled in a 25 foot putt at the third to pick up another shot before a truly world class approach at the fourth, where he shaped a seven iron around a tree to two feet before converting, earned him a third birdie in the opening four holes.

Two more birdies at the front nine’s two par fives, the sixth and ninth, took the New Delhi man to the turn in five under before another at the tenth handed him a four shot lead.

The 30 year old was steady all the way in and a stunning up and down at the 14^th hole for birdie, after his second shot landed close to a wall, took him to seven under before four successive pars earned him a new course record and moved him to 13 under for the tournament.

“I can’t complain with a course record,” said Kapur, twice a runner-up on The European Tour. “I got off to a good start today and that set the tone for the day. I made a few putts early in my round and I just didn’t look back after that.

“Today I needed to take the tournament by the scruff of the neck and I think I managed to do that.”

England’s Philip Archer was a shot further back from McArthur on eight under par and he briefly held the joint clubhouse lead thanks to a six under par 66, as he chases a fourth Challenge Tour title.

  THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

   Par

203 S Kapur (Ind) 67 71 65,

207 A McArthur  (Sco) 67 69 71,

208 P Archer (Eng) 73 69 66,

209 T Sluiter  (Ned) 70 69 70,

211 A Domingo (Esp) 66 73 72, D Vancsik (Arg) 72 72 67, D Im (USA) 73 68 70, J Lima  (Por) 70 73 68,

212 M Kumar (Ind) 73 71 68, P Uihlein  (USA) 71 72 69,

213 H Rai (Ind) 71 74 68, V Riu  (Fra) 68 72 73, R Enoch  (Wal) 71 72 70, M Perera (Sri) 69 77 67,

214 G Murray  (Sco) 69 73 72, G Bhullar (Ind) 71 70 73, W Booth  (Sco) 68 71 75, S O'Hara  (Sco) 71 72 71, B An (Kor) 73 69 72,

215 R Gangjee (Ind) 72 69 74, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 71 73, J Barnes (Eng) 73 72 70, R Ali Mollah (Ind) 76 70 69, S Tiley (Eng) 70 73 72, F McGuirk  (Eng) 69 75 71,

216 A Bernadet  (Fra) 74 71 71, S Das (Ind) 73 71 72, O Chouhan (Ind) 70 74 72, K Bhasin (Aus) 76 70 70, S Hutsby  (Eng) 73 71 72, L Jensen (Den) 71 75 70,

217 A Malik (Ind) 70 73 74, T Hatton (Eng) 73 71 73, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 73 75, M Glauert (Ger) 76 70 71, J Glennemo (Swe) 68 75 74, C Aguilar  (Esp) 77 70 70,

218 A Velasco (Esp) 76 69 73, A Pavan (Ita) 69 71 78, S Barr (Aus) 72 71 75, V Kumar (Ind) 75 71 72,

219 B Parker  (Eng) 72 75 72, R Sharma (Ind) 72 74 73, D Singh        (Ind) 73 73 73, S Chikkarangappa (Ind) 74 73 72, R Murthy (Ind) 72 75 72, R Beem (USA) 73 73 73,

220 B Koepka  (USA) 70 72 78, D Brooks (Eng) 74 73 73, F Praegant (Aut) 70 74 76,

221 S Sharma (Ind) 75 72 74, A Sandhu (Ind) 73 72 76, V Singh (Ind) 70 75 76, A Sher (Ind) 73 73 75, F Colombo (Ita) 71 74 76,

222 C Kim (USA) 73 74 75, A Singh Chauhan (Ind) 74 73 75, R Russell (Sco) 76 70 76,

224 D Kemmer (USA) 72 74 78, G Shaw (Nir) 72 72 80,

225 R Davies (Wal) 75 71 79, D Wuensche  (Ger) 72 75 78,

226 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 74 79,