Bengaluru, August 11: Newcomer Miguel Carballo of Argentina put himself in prime position for a maiden Asian Tour title after carding a flawless four-under-par 67 to seize a one-shot lead following the penultimate round of the TAKE Solutions Masters on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Carballo, who came through the Qualifying School in January, fired a pair of birdies on each nine to take his place atop the leaderboard with a three-day total of 14-under-par 199 at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) Golf Course.

Home favourite Khalin Joshi, who turns 26 years old today, returned with the day’s best score of a 64 to share second place with overnight leader Danthai Boonma of Thailand, who slipped with a 74, in the US$350,000 Asian Tour event.

Local hopefuls Viraj Madappa and Chikkarangappa S. lurked two shots off the pace in joint-fourth following respective rounds of 66 and 68 at the TAKE Solutions Masters, which is celebrating its second straight edition on the Asian Tour this week.

India’s Honey Baisoya produced the shot of the day when he made his career’s first hole-in-one on the par-three eighth hole with a pitching wedge from 135 yards. He is among those bunched in sixth place on 202 after signing for a second consecutive 66.

Did you know?

• Miguel Carballo missed only three fairways today. He found 13 greens and needed only 27 putts in his round of 67.
• Should he win tomorrow, he will be the first ever Argentinean member to win on Tour.
• Carballo is playing in his first season in Asia. He came through the Qualifying School in his first attempt earlier in January.
• Carballo has notched five top-10s in seven starts on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) so far this season. He sits in fourth place on the current ADT Order of Merit.
• Carballo enjoyed a tied-fifth place finish on the region’s premier Tour at the Asia-Pacific Classic in China in May. He missed three cuts in seven starts on the Asian Tour this season. Needs a strong finish this week to boost his ranking on the Habitat for Humanity Standings where he sits in a current 93rd position.
• Carballo turned professional in 2002. Hails from Bahia Blanca, Argentina. He is the only Argentinean member on the Asian Tour. Also a former player on the PGA Tour in 2012.
• Khalin Joshi turns 26 years old today. He holds the home course advantage this week.
• Joshi, sponsored by TAKE Solutions, came in runner-up last year after finishing two shots back of Poom Saksansin of Thailand.
• Joshi also holds the course record of a 10-under-par 62 which he set during an amateur event in 2012. He turned professional in 2013.
• Joshi enjoyed a tied-fifth place finish at the lucrative Maybank Championship in Malaysia earlier in February. Sits in 18th place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings and has virtually sealed his card for the 2019 season.
• Joshi missed only one fairway and two greens in his solid round of 64.
• Danthai Boonma made his Major debut at The Open at Carnoustie last month. He earned the coveted spot after finishing tied-fourth at the SMBC Singapore Open earlier in January, which was part of The Open Qualifying Series.
• Danthai is a one-time Asian Tour winner. He claimed his breakthrough at the 2015 World Classic Championship in Singapore. Also a one-time winner on the Asian Development Tour where he won the 2016 Boonchu Ruangkit Championship.
• Danthai sits in a current 24th place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, thanks to three top-10 finishes.

Players’ quotes:

Miguel CARBALLO (ARG) – Third round 67 (-4), Total 199 (-14)

I played good again today. I am very happy. It was pretty difficult out there with the winds, especially playing in the last group so it was nice to card a good score. I hit my tee shots very good this week. I putted well today too.

I entered the round five shots back but I wasn’t thinking much. I was just focused on playing my own game. I gave myself opportunities for birdies on the front nine. Danthai made an easy birdie on the first but I told myself to just play my own game.

I have been playing good this year, both on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the Asian Tour. This is my first time playing in the final group on the Asian Tour. I wasn’t feeling any pressure. I just told myself to stay focused on my game.

I sank the birdie putt from two yards on the fifth hole and I made another one from six yards on the sixth. On the par-five 11th hole, I made another one for five yards for birdie and on the 12th, I hit it really close with a four-iron.

The birdie on the fifth hole was the best today because I had pushed it left. I will keep things the same tomorrow. The most important will be concentration. My game is solid right now so we’ll see what happens.

Khalin JOSHI (IND) – Third round 64 (-7), Total 200 (-13) 

It feels great. I played really well today. What’s more important is that I played bogey free. That was my key, if I could go bogey free all week, would be great. But let’s not be greedy and I’m happy with the way I played. I think I’m in a good position for tomorrow, so I’m really excited.

There’s a lot of golf still left, 18 holes to go. But I have put myself in a good position. That’s all I was expecting this week – to just give myself a fair chance going into Sunday and I think I have done that. So, looking forward to tomorrow and let’s hope that I come out victorious. 

I want to play my game tomorrow. I have played this golf course a lot. I want to play my own game and not look at anybody. I had set myself a target of 20-under and hopefully I can achieve it. Playing 7-under tomorrow will be great for me.

Shubhankar and me spoke about it and he said you shoot 20-under. Spoke to my caddie as well and he said you shoot 20-under and you’ll win! For me it was always a goal to shoot 20-under this week.

My dad walked with me the last 3 days and he’ll be walking with me tomorrow as well. Obviously it is good playing at home in front of the home crowd. My longest putt was on the 15, which was about a 20-footer. 

Honey and I played the practice round together and I made a hole-in-one on the fourth hole. We just had a small chat after he made the shot and I said that on my birthday he made a hole-in-one. I said good luck to him and hopefully I have a good round. I am obviously very happy for him, he played a good round as well.

Danthai BOONMA (THA) – Third round 73 (+2), Total 200 (-13)

It was nice to start with a birdie and end with a birdie. It wasn’t really that bad for me today. I hit it into the water and made double-bogey on the eighth hole. I thought there weren’t any wind but when I hit the ball, it caught a flyer and went into the water.

The conditions were similar to yesterday as well. I guess I just didn’t putt as well as I did yesterday. I wasn’t nervous actually. I felt pretty comfortable out there. I just had a bad stretch on the front nine.

On the first hole, I sank a three-footer for birdie and on the par-five 18th, I hit the green in two and two-putted for birdie. I will stick to the same plan for tomorrow and work on my putting later. Hopefully I can regain that hot putter tomorrow. I will keep smiling tomorrow too.

Viraj MADAPPA (IND) – Third round 66 (-5), Total 201 (-12)

I am feeling good heading into the final round. Got a lot of home support and that kind of pushed me a little bit to some places I didn’t think I could go. My game is in a good space. I think if I just do what I have doing the first three days, I should be fine.

This is almost like home for me and to have all my people from the academy here supporting me, was great. They were loud through the round. There were a lot of good shots I hit. I think the tee shot on 10 where I drove the green was good.

I made a few mistakes here and there but I made up for them in the closing 5-6 holes. Hopefully if I do what I have been doing and stick with the game plan and just have a good time, I should be fine. 

It was good playing with Khalin and Honey. It felt like a local tour event because I have been playing with them. I was just feeding off their energy, because in the front 9 they kept hitting good shots and kept making putts. I was just trying to keep up. 

I just told myself to just stay with Khalin because he got hot between 7 and 13 or 14. I was just telling myself that if you can keep up with him, you should be good. And I think I did a good job down the stretch. 

The hole-in-one by Honey – it’s funny. Because I hit a really good shot and it felt quite bad after seeing that. I was like 8 feet is not good!

Chikkarangappa S. (IND) -Third round 68 (-3), Total 201 (-12)

I was in a good mood out there today. I didn’t get off to a good start but had a good start to the back nine before making the double-bogey on 14. But I had a good comeback after that which was nice.

I guess I just need to play the 14th hole in a different way tomorrow. I felt like I have a little jinx on that hole. I hit my four-iron off the tee and hit a branch before landing on the fairway. I had about 240 yards to the pin and I tried to hit a hard four-iron which went left and got stuck behind the trees.

It’s one hole that I have been struggling with for the last few events here. I am going back to plan out the strategy again and make sure I birdie that hole. I wasn’t looking much at the leaderboard out there but coming back, I saw how tight the leaderboard was.

I was expecting everyone to play well. The wind was lesser. They made the course longer and it might be tough for the other guys. But since we play a lot of golf here, we know what to do on a couple of holes.

I don’t have any numbers in mind to be honest. The local lads are all up there, including Khalin. It’s going to be a tough fight for sure. I will need to go deep. Anything better than five or six-under would be good.

Honey BAISOYA (IND) – Third round 66 (-5), Total 202 (-11)

For the hole-in-one, it was a pitching wedge from 135 yards. The hole-in-one felt amazing. It was the first hole-in-one of my life. I was actually a little scared before the tee shot because that is not an easy hole to even make a birdie.

I hit a really good shot and after that I just blacked out for a minute. Felt very happy. It was mixed feelings for me after that. I was a little nervous and I was trying to keep my smile.

I was playing the practice round together with Khalin and he made a hole-in-one on the 4th hole. So I told him that you have to give us a party. And then I made a hole-in-one today, and he said that now you have to give me a treat. I said it’s even.

I think I am hitting it really well. One of my friend Divyanshu Bajaj told me that I was doing some mistakes and he corrected it.

Scores after round 3 of the Take Solutions Masters being played at the par 71, 7074 Yards Karnataka Golf Association course (am – denotes amateur):

199 – Miguel CARBALLO (ARG) 66-66-67.

200 – Khalin JOSHI (IND) 67-69-64, Danthai BOONMA (THA) 66-61-73.

201 – Viraj MADAPPA (IND) 70-65-66, Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 69-64-68.

202 – Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 66-71-65, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 69-68-65, Honey BAISOYA (IND) 70-66-66, S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND) 69-65-68, Maverick ANTCLIFF (AUS) 67-65-70.

204 – Om Prakash CHOUHAN (IND) 67-70-67, Anura ROHANA (LKA) 67-69-68, Suradit YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA) 66-69-69.

205 – Karandeep KOCHHAR (IND) 69-69-67.

206 – Veer AHLAWAT (IND) 69-68-69, Aman RAJ (IND) 69-68-69, Sunit CHOWRASIA (IND) 71-66-69, M. DHARMA (IND) 68-73-65, Jake MCLEOD (AUS) 67-69-70.

207 – Dodge KEMMER (USA) 69-71-67, Sam CHIEN (USA) 68-70-69, CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 70-67-70, KOH Deng Shan (SIN) 68-69-70, Scott BARR (AUS) 71-66-70.

Ends.

About Asian Tour

As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game. The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status. Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), Habitat for Humanity (Official Sustainable Development Partner), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), Titleist and FootJoy (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.