Rashid makes a comeback in European Masters

The two-time Asian Tour winner, Rashid shot three-under 67 despite two bogeys in first three holes. From tied-39th, he moved to tied-24th with the help of six birdies against one bogey after two bogeys on first and third.

Rashid shot 73 on first day, when he closed with two double bogeys, and a five-under 65 on second day.

Rashid Khan, one of the only two Indians to make the cut at the Omega European Masters, made decent progress in the third round of the event. The two-time Asian Tour winner, Rashid shot three-under 67 despite two bogeys in first three holes. From tied-39th, he moved to tied-24th with the help of six birdies against one bogey after two bogeys on first and third.

Earlier, Rashid shot 73 on first day, when he closed with two double bogeys, and a five-under 65 on second day. The other Indian making the cut, Arjun Atwal, had a frustrating third round despite six birdies, as he finished with one-under 69. He had four birdies in the six-hole stretch between fourth and ninth, but gave away all that with a double on 11th, a bogey on 12th and yet another on 16th, which he has bogeyed on all three days.

The Indians missing out on the cut were Chiragh Kumar (69-73), Himmat Rai (72-73), SSP Chawrasia (79-66) and Jyoti Randhawa (73-74). Australia’s Scott Hend stayed in lead as he was five-under through 11 holes and had a total of 13-under, which was two clear overnight leader, Romain Langasque, who followed his second round 63 with one-under through 11 holes.

Richard Bland, the other overnight leader was also 11-under as he was one-under through 11 in third round. “This is a good comeback considering how I finished after day one where I finished with a bogey and two double bogeys (in last three holes). I was disappointed but I shot five-under yesterday. Another good come back today because I was two-over after three holes. I had a good birdie run after that,” Rashid said.

“I am happy with my game right now. This course looks short but the greens are tricky. You need to find a good location on the greens to make birdie. This is my third year here so I know the course well. The experience helped me this week,” he added. Talking of his playing partner on Friday, Rashid said, .

“Lee Westwood is a nice person. We had a good conversation about cricket and some other random stuff on the course.” On his game plan for Sunday, he said, “If I can shoot five or six-under tomorrow it will be a good score. I just need to find the fairways. I’m hitting the ball well and I’m holing my putts. I was very disappointed with my first round.

I was two-under at one point but made some bad judgements to slip back. It is okay. I’m still playing okay so I’m quite confident for the final round.” The halfway cut was set at even-par 140 with a total of 77 players qualifying for the weekend.