Rasmus Neergaard-Pettersen (-15) is not slowing down and remains at the top of the Kalkota Challenge leaderboard. The Dane hands in his third card of the week under 70 strokes and consolidates his leadership in India. A stroke on the table. The 24-year-old player, who is facing his first full season on the circuit, today did not hesitate at Royal Calcutta Golf Club and has increased his lead with four strokes ahead of Mikael Lindberg and Rahil Gangjee (-11) .
The Dane wants to crown his young, but impressive resume as soon as possible. Rasmus, who turned professional in June last year, already had time last season to make three top tens in just nine tournaments and add another eleventh place. In addition, Neergaard-Pettersen finished seventh in his debut at the DP World Tour at the BMW International Open two weeks after turning professional. He played four other tournaments in 2023 in the top continental division and passed as many cuts with a 12th place in Northern Ireland and a 22nd at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Almost nothing.
This guy has the makings of greatness and today he has shown it again. The player trained at Oklahoma State started the day leading by two strokes and finished it with four ahead. He signed a round of 68 strokes with five birdies and a solitary bogey on hole six. His only mistake in the last 43 holes of the tournament. Rasmus is executing his first great winning feat and wants to leave through the big door, with both ears and the tail. The hardest part remains, tomorrow he must finish the job.
Attentive to any hint of doubt at the time of the final assault is the Swedish Lindberg, coming from behind and without asking he has handed in the best card of the day and with 66 strokes he has entered the second place of the tournament. The winner a few weeks ago of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open in South Africa and current number two in the Road to Mallorca will look for a final round tomorrow that allows him to fight for his second title of the year. Alongside the Swede is local Rahil Gangjee. The 45-year-old Indian links two consecutive flawless days and will be attentive to any gap that the Dane opens.
The tournament is getting used to the fact that there are no Spaniards on the way this weekend. An almost unheard-of fact on the Circuit, it has been more than five years since no Spaniard passed the cut. Among the prominent names still in the tournament, precisely last week’s winner, John Parry (-6), has practically said goodbye today to any chance of victory with an insufficient round of 72 strokes. The ranking leader will need to fly low in Calcutta tomorrow to stay at the top of the annual classification. Just like last week, the Finn Tappio Pulkannen (-10) has again signed the best round of the tournament on the third day (today tied with Lindberg) and rises to the fourth place in the tournament. Noteworthy in the top 10 is the presence of the player from Bangladesh Jamal Hossain who at the gates of 40 can add his first top ten on the circuit. One more day, the course has shown its claws and only 29 players, less than half of those still in competition, have been able to play under par and beat the course.
