Akshay Sharma takes three-shot 2nd round lead at Vizag Open

By Rahul Banerji

Akshay Sharma carded a 4-under 68, in windy conditions in round two of the Vizag Open to take a three-shot lead at the East Point Golf Club on Thursday.

The Chandigarh golfer had aggregated 9 under 135 over the opening 36 holes of the Rs 1 crore inaugural event, the PGTI said.

Sunhit Bishnoi and Shivendra Singh Sisodia of Gurgaon and Bangalore’s Trishul Chinnappa, returned scores of 69 to share second place in Visakhapatnam on 6-under 138.

The cut was declared at two-over 146 with 53 professionals going through to the money rounds.

Sharma (67-68), tied second and one shot off the lead had a flying start to the day as he chipped-in from the bunker for birdie on hole 10.

Good chipping earned him another birdie on 12 and a long conversion from 20 feet on 13 saw Sharma pick up his third shot of the day.

Going close

Akshay, a two-time winner on the PGTI, picked up two more strokes by firing it within five feet on the second and fifth holes. The 33-year-old’s lone bogey came on the sixth.

“Conditions today were the exact opposite to round one as it was quite windy and there was no rain. My striking has been good so far and I hit 13 greens on both days which has served me well,” Sharma said.

“Starting with a chip-in today really gave me momentum for the rest of the day. The key will be to continue hitting the maximum number of fairways here as the fairways are narrow.”

PGTI Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan (70) was tied for fifth on 5-under 139 along with overnight leader Mohammad Sanju (73) and Samarth Dwivedi (71).

Rahman Mehboob Shorif was the only Visakhapatnam-based player who made the cut. He was tied 44^th on 2-over 146.

Two players made a hole-in-one on the day, Rajesh Kumar on the 11^th and Anurag Neog on the second. Both, however, missed the cut.

Also read: Mohammad Sanju holds clubhouse lead at rain-hit Vizag Open