Sean Crocker and Aman Gupta
St. Andrews, Scotland, July 31: Indian American Aman Gupta suffered a 14-shot swing from his second to third round as he carded 5-over 77 after a 9-under 63 on the second. Put alongside his first round 69, he is now 7-under and T-49 in a low scoring Hero Open at the Fairmont St Andrews.
Other Indian origin players Julian Suri and Jack Singh Brar missed the cut.
Sean Crocker’s sensational chip-in eagle at the 18th handed him a two-shot lead going into the final round as he bids to secure his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2022 Hero Open.
The American showed impressive patience on a testing third day at Fairmont St Andrews to get to 18 under par and remain on course for a wire-to-wire victory.
After making four birdies and a single bogey in his opening 12 holes on Saturday, Crocker ran into trouble at the 13th as he could not find a way out of the thick rough after two shots and also had a wall to worry about as he prepared to take his third.
He took time to think about his next step and, instead of taking any risks, he opted for a drop and walked away with a double bogey. Crocker soon put that to the back of his mind, though, pulling off some battling par saves in breezy conditions before chipping in at the last to sign for a 69.
Swede Jens Dantorp is two shots further back on 16 under par after posting a bogey-free 69, one ahead of home favourite David Law and Adrian Otaegui of Spain. South African Louis de Jager, Victor Dubuisson of France, Welshman Oliver Farr and England’s Eddie Pepperell are then at 14 under.
