Manoj Seizes Lead at Trident Open with Brilliant 67 in Round Three

Chandigarh, November 13, 2025: Bengaluru’s 17-year-old rising golf star Manoj S produced a superb five-under 67 in the third round to grab the lead at the inaugural Trident Open 2025, a ₹1 crore event being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
With rounds of 69-71-67, Manoj moved to a total of nine-under 207, giving him a one-shot lead after 54 holes. At 17 years, 7 months and 26 days, he is now on the verge of becoming the youngest professional winner on the PGTI. The current record belongs to Shubhankar Sharma, who won the 2014 PGTI Cochin Masters at 17 years, 8 months and 22 days.
Meanwhile, Karandeep Kochhar holds the overall youngest-winner record on the tour, having claimed his maiden victory as an amateur at 17 years and 5 months in 2016.
Former PGTI Order of Merit champion Manu Gandas (66-73-69) signed for a 69 and ended the day in second place at eight-under 208.
There was a clear gap between the top two and the rest of the field, with five players tied for third at five-under 211. The group included Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Sandhu (70) and Akshay Sharma (72), debutant Shubham Jaglan (71), along with Shaurya Bhattacharya and Mohd Azhar.
Earlier, after round two, Akshay Sharma and Manu Gandas had shared the halfway lead at five-under 139.
The tournament is being spearheaded by Title Sponsor Trident Group, one of India’s leading names in the home textiles industry, led by Chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Mr. Rajinder Gupta.
Manoj's Impressive Charge : Starting the day tied third, Manoj displayed aggressive intent right from the opening hole. He carded four birdies and one bogey on the front nine, climbing quickly up the leaderboard. On the back nine, he added four more birdies against two bogeys, securing his position at the top. Manoj drained three superb 10-foot putts and capped his round by sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th. At the par-3 14th, his tee shot even hit the flag, denying him a near hole-in-one.
Speaking after the round, Manoj said “My ball-striking has been excellent over the last few weeks, and that’s been the biggest strength in my recent form. I was very consistent again today. The shot on the 14th was one of my best this week. I’ll approach the final round just like any other round and not get ahead of myself. This mindset has worked well so far.”
Manu Gandas, still searching for his first win since early 2024, also showed strong form, firing four birdies and one bogey to stay in close contention. PGTI Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu climbed seven spots into tied third after returning a 70.