A bogey-free round proved to be the golden ticket at the Delhi Golf Course on Saturday, as Keita Nakajima delivered a spectacular 65 to seize the top spot. His three-day total of 199 puts him at 17 under par at the inaugural $4 million DP World India Championship, giving him a crucial two-shot lead over overnight leader Tommy Fleetwood.
Shane Lowry, who led on Day One, now sits a further shot back at 202. Interestingly, the shared success among these top three players comes from their individual bogey-free rounds. For the weekend, play was adjusted to two-ball groups, seeing Nakajima paired with Lowry, and Fleetwood with Brian Harman.
The 25-year-old Nakajima, no stranger to Indian success with a win at last year’s Indian Open and a runner-up finish this year, joins Fleetwood and Lowry as the only golfers consistently in the top five throughout the first three days of the competition.
Nakajima began the day trailing Fleetwood by two strokes, but his round was illuminated by seven birdies. This included an impressive 10-foot birdie on the opening hole, a 13-foot putt on the fifth, and a remarkable 40-foot monster putt on the par-three 12th.
Fleetwood managed to recover from his only dropped shot of the day on the 17th with a birdie on the final hole. However, his three birdies compared to Nakajima’s seven made all the difference, setting up an exciting final round on Sunday where the two will be battling head-to-head for the championship title.
An embedded social media post shows a highlight reel of a putt, captioned: “What a putt! Keita Nakajima joins the lead. #DPWIC”
Rory McIlroy, tied for 15th with a total of 206, finally seemed to find his rhythm on the course. Despite a persistent struggle with the par-4 11th, where he’d dropped shots on all three days, he minimized errors with just one bogey and maintained a steady birdie count for a 4-under 68.
Indian golfer Dhruv Sheoran bounced back from a challenging Day Two to card his best round of the week, a 5-under 67. Four of his six birdies came on the back nine, making him the best-placed Indian at tied 25th. Shiv Kapur and Shubhankar Sharma were a bit further down the leaderboard, tied at 42nd, three shots behind Sheoran.
Another embedded social media post features a highlight of Shane Lowry, captioned: “‘That’s an amazing golf shot. Incredible golf shot!’ World class from @ShaneLowryGolf #DPWIC”
Top Leaderboard:
- 199: Keita Nakajima (Jpn, 65-69-65)
- 201: Tommy Fleetwood (Eng, 68-64-69)
- 202: Shane Lowry (Ire, 64-69-69)
- 203: Jens Dantorp (Swe, 71-67-65)
- 203: Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng, 69-67-67)
- 203: Daniel Hillier (Nzl, 69-67-67)
- 203: Brian Harman (USA, 68-65-70)