India's Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a 4-under 69 to jump to tied 27th place before the final round of the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat.
The 11-time winner on the Asian Tour traded four birdies against a lone bogey in the third round on the challenging course. Meanwhile, Ajeetesh Sandhu slipped to tied 47th; despite carding an impressive six birdies, his round was undone by five bogeys and a costly double bogey, leaving him at 1-over for the day.
“I felt I hit the ball really well today; I probably hit 14 out of 17 fairways. I gave myself so many birdie opportunities, made five birdies, and dropped one shot on the last. Other than that, it was a good ball striking day, putted well, and it was one of those rounds where I was right there, and with a few more good breaks, it could have gone the other way,” commented Bhullar.
He added, “I’m going to try and stick to the routine and process in the fourth round as well, the stuff I’ve been doing over the last 54 holes, just going to do the same thing, and hopefully walk away with a good round.”
Karandeep Kochhar finished the third round with 2-under 71, hitting five birdies.
Meanwhile, Bubba Watson overcame a late hiccup to take sole possession of the lead. The 47-year-old American, a two-time Masters champion and skipper of the RangeGoats GC on LIV Golf, seemed to be on cruise control on the demanding par-73 Red Course of Royal Golf Dar Es Salam as he made five birdies in his first 13 holes. However, against the run of play, Watson made back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes, before getting one shot back on the drivable par-4 17th hole.
Watson, looking for his first win since the 2018 Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour, closed on four-under-par 69, eking a narrow one-shot advantage over Thailand’s 2022 champion Jazz Janewattananond (67) and Hong Kong’s in-form Taichi Kho (68). The two players in second place experienced contrasting fortunes over the closing stretch. Jazz finished birdie-eagle, while Kho could only par the last two holes, including finding water off the tee on the 17th.
Japan’s Takanori Konishi shot a bogey-free 66 as he chases a first win outside his home country and joined Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert (72) in tied fourth position at 12-under. Julien Sale (68) of France and Suteepat Prateeptienchai (70) of Thailand were tied sixth at 11-under.
Watson did not hit many fairways (eight of 15), but still managed to hit 15 greens in regulation. The birdie he cherished most was from 12 feet on the 10th, which came after Pavit had damaged the hole moments earlier when he slam-dunked his second shot for an eagle on the par-4 10th hole.
Taichi, who finished runner-up on the Japan Golf Tour last week before travelling to Rabat, had six birdies and a solo bogey in his 68.
International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco is the third leg of the elevated events on the Asian Tour and is being played in Morocco for the fourth time.
