The cut was declared at three-over-147. Fifty-four
professionals made the halfway cut.
Mukesh Kumar (66-68), who was one off the lead in tied
second after round one, seemed to be coming into his own at one of his
favourite venues during round two. The 50-year-old seasoned campaigner was off
to a sizzling start with a 20-feet birdie putt on the first. Mukesh missed a
sitter on the very next hole but rallied with another long birdie conversion
from 15 feet on the fourth.
Mukesh added three more birdies to his card on the seventh,
ninth and 11th thanks to some excellent chip shots all of which landed
within three feet of the cup. He then closed out his round with seven straight
pars even though he missed some short birdie putts on that stretch.
“I recovered well after the early bogey on the second and
played some brilliant chips. However, it was a poor putting day for me except
for the first few holes. I missed a lot of short putts on the back-nine.
Nonetheless, I’m in a great position at the moment and will look to build from
here on,” said Mukesh.
He added, “Coming to Digboi is always special. I try to
remember my past experiences of winning here to boost my confidence. I know the
course very well and therefore I’m able to recover from tough situations more
often than not.”
M Dharma (67-68) of Bengaluru climbed up from overnight tied
fourth to second place after his second round of 68. Dharma, who had made a
20-feet eagle after driving the green on the third in round one, mixed five
birdies against a lone bogey in round two.
Three of his birdies came as a result of good chip-putts
from the edge while he sank an eight-footer on one of them. Dharma, a winner on
the PGTI, narrowly missed his second eagle of the tournament when his 10-feet
putt just shaved the hole on the seventh.
Dharma said, “All aspects of my game have clicked over the last
two days and that’s the reason I find myself in contention here. I’ve always
played well in Digboi, having posted some low scores in the past. I’ve also had
a top-5 finish here.
“I missed the cut in the last few events so I’m delighted to
be back in the hunt this week. I’m playing well but things have just not been
going for me. I hope that changes over the next two days,” added Dharma.
The Noida duo of overnight leader Gaurav Pratap Singh
(65-71) and Vikrant Chopra (67-69) occupied tied third place at
eight-under-136. While Gaurav scrambled through the day with four birdies and
three bogeys, Vikrant made four birdies which included a 20-feet conversion and
a lone bogey.
Sri Lankan N Thangaraja shot the day’s best of 66 to share
fifth place with Kolkata’s Shankar Das (71) and Om Prakash Chouhan (68) of Mhow
at seven-under-137. Shankar thus slipped three places from his overnight tied
second.
Defending champion Shamim Khan (71-72) of Delhi returned an even-par-72 to be tied 21stat
one-under-143.
All the six local players, four professionals and two
amateurs, missed the cut. Deven Bhumij in tied 55th at four-over-148 was
the highest-placed local professional at the end of round two. He missed the
cut by one shot.
PGTI Press release
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