Abhijit Singh Chadha
Jaipur, September 30, 2015: Abhijit Singh Chadha of Chandigarh surged ahead
by three shots in round two of the PGTI Players Championship at Rambagh Golf
Club after a splendid five-under-65 that took his total to 13-under-127.
Shankar Das of Kolkata and Bangalore ’s
Udayan Mane were tied second at 10-under-130 having posted identical scores of
one-under-69 on day two.
Abhijit Singh Chadha (62-65), who was overnight third,
grabbed the initiative on Wednesday, with a bogey-free 65. The 24-year-old
Chadha, a rookie on the Asian Tour this year, tapped-in for birdies on all four
par-5s and sank a 20-footer for birdie on the fifth. Abhijit, who started the
season with a top-5 at Panchkula, hasn’t been at his best thereafter. The lanky
lad from Chandigarh
with one title under his belt, has now emerged as a top contender in Jaipur,
being three shots clear at the halfway stage.
“I capitalized well on the par-5s today leaving myself easy
birdie putts. The only long putt was the 20-footer for birdie on the fifth. It
sets me up well for the weekend. I feel the 45-day tour of the United States
that I undertook this summer with some other fellow Indian professionals has
done me loads of good. I played tournaments on a number of courses in the US with varying
playing conditions. I gained a lot of exposure during the trip,” said Chadha, a
winner on the PGTI in 2012.
Shankar Das (61-69), the overnight joint leader, followed up
his phenomenal opening round of 61 with a sedate 69 that featured four birdies
and three bogeys. He was three-under through 15 holes but dropped two bogeys on
the last three holes after missing chip-putts.
“I really struggled with my chipping and putting today. It
was also windier as compared to round one. The highlight of my round was
narrowly missing the hole-in-one on the 13th. However, I still feel I’m in the
mix and in with a chance,” said Shankar.
Udayan Mane (61-69), the overnight joint leader along with
Das, too slipped to tied second as a result of his 69 on day two. Udayan made
four birdies but also had a bogey and a double-bogey. Mane converted a
25-footer for birdie on the sixth. On the 14th, he couldn’t recover after an
errant drive and thus dropped a double-bogey.
Mane said, “I was two-over through 12 holes today but fought
back well with three birdies thereafter. I told myself after the first that I
will finish well if I stick to the process and play without fear. I thus
managed to pull it back at the end.”
Noida’s Rahul Bajaj, who shot the day’s best score of
six-under-64, climbed up 38 spots to tied sixth at six-under-134. Bangalore ’s Khalin Joshi (66) and Delhi ’s Manav Jaini (67) joined Bajaj in tied
sixth place.
Kolkata’s Feroz Ali Mollah had the distinction of shooting
two eagles during his round of 67 that placed him tied ninth at five-under-135.
Local favourite Vishal Singh of Jaipur was tied 31st at
one-under-139. He shot a 68 in round two.
Shubham Narain of Delhi
was the lone amateur to make the cut. He too was tied 31st at
one-under-139. Narain came up with a solid 66 on Wednesday.
The cut was declared at one-over-141. Fifty-six
professionals and one amateur made the cut.
PGTI Press release
No comments:
Post a Comment