Vijitha Bandara 7 strokes clear of a bunch of Professional Golfers poised to pounce on the leader.
The UTE-CAT Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) with the support of sponsoers UTE-CAT (Principle sponsor), CML MTD Construction and Halediv (HVA Foods) as Co-sponsors goes to the final round with Vijitha could not extend his lead of 7 shots after round 2, though he maintained the gap from Prabagaran, defending Champ Anura Rohana, Lalith Kumara and Tissa Chandaradasa. Mithun Perera lies in 6th place one shot behind the bunch, who in turn is one shot ahead of leading Sri Lankan Amateur N. Thangaraja.
The third day appeared to be more difficult to score below par as only K. Prabagaran shot a 2 under par to return the best card for the day – 69. The leader dropped 3 shots along with Tissa Chandaradasa whilst Prabagaran, Anura Rohana, Lalith Kumara, Mithun Perera and N. Thangaraja got closer to the overall leader Vijitha Bandara.
Multiple past Champion Nandasena Perera had a 85 to slide down a few places along with RCGC pro Jehan De Saram who returned a 82.
The Pam fernando Challenge Trophy for the Ladies Championship got underway and seasoned lady Golfers Niloo Jayatilake and Neesha Nirmalalingam shared the lead with gross 84, three strokes ahead of veteran Swan Selvaratnam.
UTE-CAT Sri Lanka Open Championship 2012 – Leader Board after Round 3
Leader – 202 – Vijitha Bandara
2nd Place – 209 – K. Prabagaran, R.A Anura Rohana, B.G Lalith Kumara, K.A Chandaradasa
6th place – 210 – Mithun Perera
7th Place 211 – N. Thangaraja
8th Place – 214 – M. Arumugam
9th Place – 215 – Sisira Kumara, G. Harison
11th Place – 216 – B.A Rohana, M. Amarapadma
13th Place – 218 – M.U. Chanaka Perera
14th Place – 220 – J.M.D Indika
15th Place – 221 – J. Sasikumar
PAM Fernando Challenge Trophy 2012
Best aggregate score over two rounds.
Leader board after 1 round
84 – Niloo Jayatilake, Neesha Nirmalalingam
84 – Swen Selvaratnam
The final round commence at 6.30 am with the Ladies Tee-off, followed by the Sri Lanka open Championship at 7.00 am. The last round promises to be simply enthralling with Vijitha Bandara, K. Prabagaran and Anura Rohana paired off in the last tight preceded by Chandradasa, Mithun Perera and N. Thangaraja. The 2012 Champion should come from the top 6 players and Amateur Vijitha Bandara will be tested with the Professional firing their experience to peg back the leader.
