Vijay Kumar, who made a move during the second round with a four-under par 68, made his intentions clear when he added a superb six-under par 66 to grab a three-stroke lead after 54 holes in the coveted Rs 45-lakh Amby Valley PGA Championship of India, promoted by the PGA of India and supported by Tiger Sports Marketing, on Friday.
Leader of the opening round Shiv Kapur saved a couple of strokes to be placed second at nine-under 207 while overnight leader Ashok Kumar slipped to third position at 208 after an even-par third round.
Kolkatan SSP Chowrasia also made a move with a card of three-under 69 to be in the fourth spot at 210 while Harinder Gupta, with a 69, was tied for fifth place along with Asian Tour regular Amandeep Johl at 211.
A stroke behind was Shamim Khan in seventh place while Arjun Singh was in eighth position at 214. Amby Valley PGAI Tour Money List leader Mukesh Kumar shares the ninth spot with Gaurav Ghei at 215.
Vijay Kumar, who has scripted some biggest come-back victories during his more than two-decade professional career, taught some lessons to the two youngsters -- Ashok Kumar and Shiv Kapur -- who were playing along with him. The Lion of Lucknow, who is in a quest for his second title of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2004-05 season, made a solid start with three successive birdies on the second, third and fourth. The stocky golfer hit some brilliant shots and if he missed the greens, he made it up with some brilliant saves.
Top Scores after 54 holes (Pros): 204 Vijay Kumar (70, 68, 66); 207 Shiv Kapur (65, 72, 70); 208 Ashok Kumar (69,67, 72); 210 SSP Chowrasia (70, 71, 69); 211 Harinder Gupta (70, 72, 69), Amandeep Johl (71, 69, 71); 212 Shamim Khan (72, 67, 73); 214 Arjun Singh (68, 72, 74); 215 Mukesh Kumar (71, 73, 71), Gaurav Ghei (70, 69, 76); 216 US Mundy (73, 71, 72), S Madaiah (72, 72, 72); 217 Vivek Bhandari (72, 72, 73).
Amateurs: 225 Jaideep Patwardhan (72, 71, 82); 235 Amit Nigam (81, 77, 77).
