Arjun Sharma aces en route to Mysuru Open day two lead

Greater Noida’s Arjun Sharma on his way into the inaugural Mysuru Open’s day two lead at Mysore’s Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji 

A hole-in-one and four birdies gave Arjun Sharma a second round of 6 under par 64 and the halfway lead in the Rs 1 crore Mysuru Open at Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club on Friday.

Gurgaon’s Kartik Sharma hit a 63 and 64s by Bangalore golfer Shaurya Binu and Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh had them in a three-way tie for second place on 12 under 128, one behind Sharma.

The cut fell at 4 under par 136 with 52 professionals and one amateur going through, the PGTI said.

Greater Noida’s Sharma (63-64), tied second overnight one off the lead, enjoyed a terrific opening nine on Friday as he produced a hole-in-one and three birdies before the turn thanks to a couple of long conversions.

The 31-year-old, searching for his maiden win, then had a steady return nine with a solitary birdie in a bogey-free card.

Confidence-booster

Arjun, a runner-up on the PGTI, said, “A hole-in-one is always a big boost to the confidence. I had a better score in round one but today I hit it better.

“I’m quite pleased with my effort despite a quiet second nine because I managed to keep the errors out and went bogey-free. I’m happy with the way I’m playing. It’s a very good layout and if you’re hitting it well off the tee there are a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Binu (64-64) made an eagle-two, six birdies and two bogeys while Kartik Sharma (65-63) sank nine birdies against two bogeys while Sharma (64-64) had seven birdies and a bogey.

Overnight leader Aman Raj (67) slipped to fifth on 11-under 129.    

Seventeen-year-old Veer Ganapathy of Bangalore was the only amateur to make the cut. Veer, who was tied second after round one, struck a 68 on day two to drop to 12^th on 9 under 131.

Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul returned an error-free nine-under 61, the lowest round of the tournament to end the day in tied 13^th place on 8 under 132.

Mysore professionals Yashas Chandra (7 under 133) and Aalaap I.L. (5 under 135) were tied 23^rd and 32^nd respectively.

Also read: Aman Raj goes low for first round lead at inaugural Mysuru Open