Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Feb 20: SSP Chowrasia produced yet another blemish-free round with a four-under 67 on the second day to break off from the pack and take a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Hero Indian Open golf tournament here Friday.
After taming the Delhi Golf Club course with a spotless 66 on the opening day, Chowrasia maintained a clean slate Friday also, the first time to do so in two consecutive rounds of his career, aggregating 10-under 132 to lead the race for the title.
Chowrasia, a three-time Indian Open runner-up, was closely followed by Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, who turned in a three-under 68, to lie one stroke adrift of the leader. Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and Joakim Lagergren of Sweden brought home a matching even-par 71 to lie tied third.
American Paul Peterson (68) and Richard Mcevoy (67) of England were tied fifth with a total of five-under 137. World No. 39 Anirban Lahiri also lifted himself after a forgetful opening day, firing the best-round of the day, a six-under 65 to zoom to tied seventh.
A two-time European Tour winner, Chowrasia was off the block in style with a birdie in the opening hole. But after that, his putter went cold as he parred the next eight holes.
At the turn, the Kolkata golfer blasted successive birdies at the 10th and 11th holes and then parred next four holes, which included a difficult save at the tricky par-4 14th hole. He moved into the sole lead with a birdie at the 16th hole and held his fort in the next two holes.
“This is the first time that I have been bogey free for 36 holes. It is not easy. I have played here many times but DGC always remains a tough course. Today’s (Friday) round has been a confidence booster for me,” Chowrasia told reporters.
The cut was decided at two-over and among the Indians, Jeev Milkha Singh (72), S Chikkarangappa (75), Mukesh Kumar (73), Amardip Sinh Malik (69), Om Prakash Chouhan (73), Chirag Kumar (74), three-time winner Jyoti Randhawa (69), Manav Jaini (69), Shiv Kapur (69), Angad Cheema (70), Subhankar Sharma (72) and Arjun Atwal (70) made the cut.
