Siddikur on top

Siddikur Rahman surged to a one-stroke lead in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after a three-under-par (69) in the penultimate round yesterday. 

The 31-year-old Bangladeshi golfer, who started the day tied for third and four strokes behind the overnight leader, enjoyed another excellent day out on the Four Seasons Golf Club as he exchanged four birdies for a single bogey to go top of the leaderboard with an aggregate score of seven-under-par (209).

The two-time Asian Tour winner, who has endured a rather patchy season thus far with the BTI Open of the PGTI tour being the only successes of the season, will be looking to remain consistent in the fourth and final round and end a two-and-a-half year drought on the Asian Tour circuit as well as grab a first European tour title since this event is co-sanctioned by the Asian, European and Sunshine Tours. 

Speaking to the Asiantour.com at the end of the day's play, Siddikur said his driving was better than before thanks to using a new driver and that the birdie at the 16th hole yesterday was the best of the week for him.

"I really enjoyed my round today. It was a very special day for me. I hit some great shots out there, especially on the 16 which was awesome for me. I have been driving the ball really solid this week. It's a new driver in the bag. I am hitting it straighter and longer," Siddikur said. "The highlight today and possibly the highlight for me so far this week is on 16. I had a great drive and I hit my second shot with my three-wood from 225 yards into the wind from left to right before sinking an eight-footer for birdie. That was by far my best birdie of the week."

Having made the cut in five events out of seven and with a 35th position in the Bashundhara Open being the best of the season so far, Siddikur will certainly be happy with a top-five finish in this one-million-euro event. However, a win here will more importantly break the mental jinx for the Bangladeshi golfer as well as bring him into certainty of qualification for the Olympic Games.

"I am very inspired to play tomorrow [Sunday] now that I am in the lead. I won't put pressure on myself. I am very excited and I will try to enjoy myself tomorrow. I will try and play the same way as I did for the last few days," said the two-time Asian Tour winner.

The challenge for Siddikur on the final day is likely to come from Jeunghun Wang of Korea, who is one stroke behind the leader, and Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium sitting four strokes behind as well as Andrew Dodt of Australia, who relinquished the top spot after enduring a horrendous back nine in the third round.