Golf: Shankar Das in driver?s seat on Day 3

Digboi (Assam) : Shankar Das of Kolkata continued his domination at the IndianOil XtraPremium Masters 2010 after he posted a five under 67 in round three to increase his lead to seven strokes.

Shankar?s inspiring 67 took his total to 14 under 202. Feroz Ali Mollah is placed second at seven under 209.

Shankar Das (70-65-67), the overnight leader by four strokes, dropped a stroke on the third as a result of a poor drive but came roaring back with birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth. Das dropped his second bogey of the day on the 10th but his fortunes were on the upswing from there on. The 27-year-old birdied the 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th to sign off with a five under for the day.

Shankar?s chip stopped just short of the hole on the 14th and his tee shot on the 16th landed seven feet from the pin. A brilliant lob wedge shot from 80 yards set up a five feet birdie putt on the 18th for the Kolkata-based professional. Shankar is now staring at his maiden professional win.

?My tee shots were much better than the previous two rounds and I holed almost every putt. I made a lot of putts from six to 10 feet. The only opportunity I missed was a 10 feet eagle putt on the seventh.

“I have a comfortable lead at the moment so the aim will be to shoot a score of two to three under in the final round in order to finish on top. However, I cannot afford to be complacent as Feroz Ali Mollah is a very experienced player and can turn things around on the final day,? said Shankar.

Feroz Ali Mollah (70-69-70) made it an all-Kolkata affair at the top of the leaderboard as he fired a 70 to be placed second at seven under 209. His round featured five birdies and three bogeys.

Raju Ali Mollah, another Kolkata golfer and Jamshedpur?s Navtez Singh share third place at three under 213.

Md. Zamal Hossain Mollah and Chiragh Kumar are joint fifth at two under 214.