Indian star and world no. 39 Anirban Lahiri shot the day’s
best score, a blistering six-under-65, to climb from overnight tied 80th spot
to tied seventh.
The halfway cut was declared at two-over-144. Sixty-nine
players made the cut which included 16 Indians.
SSP Chawrasia (65-67), the overnight joint leader, continued
from where he left in round one as he posted a second successive bogey-free
round. He was quick off the blocks with a birdie on the first. Chawrasia’s
superb hitting saw him pick up two more birdies on the 10th and 11th. He
finally overtook Siddikur to grab the sole lead after converting a long birdie
putt on the 16th.
Chawrasia said, “I’m played very well on the first two days.
I’ve played here many times so I know how to play on this course. As far as I
remember, this is the first time I’m bogey free after 36 holes.
“I feel good about my game at the moment. I’m quite pleased
to have saved a lot of pars today. It wasn’t easy to keep the bogeys away from
my card. I had to make a lot of saves. The hitting was good on the front-nine
while the putting wasn’t that great. But I was more consistent with the putter
on the back-nine.
“It is tough when the wind changes direction but I know how
to handle it here. I played well through the 2014 season. I started well this
year as well so I’m feeling very confident. I’m very excited for the next two
days and look forward to playing alongside Siddikur in round three. We have
played together on a number of occasions in the past.”
Defending champion Md Siddikur Rahman (65-68), who was also
the overnight joint leader, put together six birdies, a bogey and a
double-bogey in his round of 68 to stay in contention at second spot.
Siddikur said, “I was a little bit disappointed with my
double bogey because I had a good number of birdies. It was good to birdie the
eight and nine holes. The ninth hole is very difficult but I hit a good five
wood for my second shot and it landed eight feet from the hole. I always play
for par on the ninth hole.
“On hole number four, I missed my shot and had to settle for
double bogey. It shows that anything can happen on this golf course. I don’t
want to think about my back injury. I rather think about my win here in 2013.”
Anirban Lahiri followed up his first round of 73 with a
sizzling six-under-65 to rise 73 places from his overnight tied 80th position.
Lahiri made two birdie chip-ins on day two on the 10th and 17th.
“Now I’m in with a sniff. I managed to get some rhythm on
the greens and made some good putts. I tried to focus on getting back to
even-par yesterday and tried to push myself to make a few birdies coming in.
I’m happy with the way I fought back.
“You got to keep it on the fairways and it is easier said
than done especially when the wind starts to pick up. Whoever can keep the ball
in play the most will probably walk away with a big smile.
“I’m happy that I fought back hard after yesterday’s
disappointment. I’ve been fighting a very stiff back and sore shoulder. I’m
going to continue to fight. It was nice to get my putter hot. I didn’t hit the
ball that great. I chipped in a couple of times and holed some nice putts. It
is important sometimes when you are not at your best to scrape through.
“I’ve had a long relationship with the DGC. It wasn’t very
friendly at the start but that’s turned around in the last three or four years.
I’m now in a very positive frame of mind when I play here.
“There’s no pin position on the golf course which we haven’t
seen before. There won’t be any surprises here. I’m quite comfortable out there
and hopefully I can play well. I would have liked to be at 12 or 13-under at
the halfway stage but after yesterday’s round, I will take wherever I am now,”
said Anirban.
Arjun Atwal shot a second straight 70 to be tied 13th at
two-under-140 while Shubhankar Sharma was a further shot back in tied 18th to
make it four Indians in the top-20.
Among the other Indians who made the cut, Angad Cheema, Shiv
Kapur and Manav Jaini were in tied 25th at even-par-142, Jyoti Randhawa,
Rashid Khan and Chiragh Kumar were a further shot behind in joint 39th, while
Om Prakash Chouhan, Mukesh Kumar, Amardip Sinh Malik, Jeev Milkha Singh,
Chikkarangappa and Kapil Kumar were tied 51st at two-over-144.
Rahil Gangjee, former Indian Open champions C Muniyappa and
Feroz Ali Mollah and five-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar were among
the Indians who missed the cut.
Abhinav Lohan, who also missed the cut, fired a hole-in-one
on the 17th during his second round of 75.
PGTI Press release
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