Rashid Khan posts 69 to stay four ahead

Rashid Khan 

New Delhi, February 27, 2014: India’s Rashid Khan posted a three-under-69 in round two to stay four ahead of the rest of the field at the SAIL-SBI Open presented by Incredible India Ministry of Tourism being played at the Delhi Golf Club. Rashid, who had shot a breathtaking 61 on the opening day, closed round two with a total of 14-under-130 at the US$ 300,000 event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGTI. PGTI members Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka and Bangladeshi Md Siddikur Rahman are in joint second along with Australian Unho Park at 10-under-134.

Round two could not be completed on Thursday as play was suspended due to fading light. Twelve players who are yet to complete round two will resume play at 8 am on Friday.

Rashid Khan (61-69), who teed off from the 10th, struggled with his hitting on the back-nine. He made his first birdie of the day on the 16th from 20 feet but slipped with a double-bogey on the very next hole where a wrong club selection meant his shot landed over the green. Khan came back with a 25-feet conversion for eagle on the first and closed the day on a high with birdies on the seventh and ninth.

Rashid said, “Only three balls were inside 10 feet of the flag today. I wasn’t hitting it close at all. Had another good birdie on seven from 25 feet and hit a good five iron to 12 feet on the ninth and holed the putt. It was a good comeback on the second-nine after being one over on the first-nine. I was not comfortable with my swing. My putting helped me stay ahead. The winds were swirling out there this afternoon, it was affecting us.

“I’ll need to make sure I find more greens and hole more putts in the next two days. Tomorrow morning, I’ll work on my swing by spending half an hour more at the range with my coach.”

Bangladesh’s Md Siddikur Rahman (67-67) fired a second straight 67 to be joint second. Siddikur, a PGTI member, had six birdies and a bogey in round two.

Siddikur said, “Another five under today, I’m happy. It’s good. That’s my target. It was really good, everything was good. Hitting and putting was good. I’m especially happy about my putting. I got my putting back. Yesterday, I struggled a bit. I’ve been working on my swing, which is a bit wrong. I can feel it and made some adjustments in the past few weeks.”

Mithun Perera (66-68), another PGTI member, continued to be in joint second position as a result of his second round of 68 that featured six birdies and two bogeys.

Perera said, “Had bad bogeys on second and 15 from the centre of the fairway. But I had a good finish, like yesterday. On the first-nine, my tee shots were off target but I got back my swing on the back-nine. The key will be my tee shots as I’m using a lot of drivers. If I can be on the fairways, I will have a chance. Rashid is a really good player, he’s number one on the PGTI and this is his home course. I have to play good to give him a fight.” 

Indians Anirban Lahiri (70-66) and Digvijay Singh (68-68) are in joint sixth place at eight-under-136. Lahiri and Digvijay shot bogey-free rounds of 66 and 68 respectively.

SSP Chowrasia lies tied eighth at seven-under-137.

PGTI Press release and photo