Honey Baisoya is halfway leader in Bengal Open, four share 2nd place

By Rahul Banerji

Delhi’s Honey Baisoya shot a second straight 6-under par 64 to move into the halfway lead at the inaugural Rs 30 lakh Bengal Open Golf Championship presented by West Bengal Tourism at the Tollygunge Club course in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Baisoya, a six-time winner on the PGTI, was one clear of the rest of the field at 12-under-128 despite a slow start to his round.

As many as four players shared second place on 11-under-129 – Delhi’s Rashid Khan (64), Badal Hossain (66) of Bangladesh, Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar (66) and Faridabad-based tyro Karan Pratap Singh (67), the first day leader.

The day’s round of 63 came from Delhi’s Himmat Rai, Bangalorw’s Trishul Chinnappa and Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja. While Himmat was tied sixth on 10-under-130, Trishul was T9 on 9-under-131 and Thangaraja T20 on 6-under-134.

The cut was at two-under-138 with 51 professionals making the money rounds.

Gritting it out

Baisoya (64-64) climbed five places from his overnight tied sixth thanks to some dogged golf. The Delhi lad, who won his last event about a year back, dropped an early shot on the first where his drive found the trees.

The 22-year-old was one-over through four holes before he charted a splendid recovery with three consecutive birdies. Baisoya missed an ace on the sixth as his magnificent tee shot stopped inches from the hole. After another dropped shot on the eighth, Baisoya hit top gear on his inbound nine with five birdies thanks to accurate driving and approach shots.

Baisoya said later, “I’ve shot two rounds of 64 but I would rate today’s round better as I started from the front nine which has some tough holes at the beginning especially the first and the third. I got into my stride on the back nine today as I created a lot of chances by consistently hitting the fairways.

Mr Consistent

“I’ve been in good touch since the start of this season having already posted two top-5s in the first three events of the year. I was third in Chittagong last week with a 16-under total. So the consistency is there. It’s now about doing the basics right over the next two days by finding the fairways and staying out of trouble. That will keep me in contention.”

Rashid Khan, winner at Chittagong last week moved up from tied 12^th to T2 thanks to another flawless round. Incredibly, five of Rashid’s last six rounds have been bogey-free.

Badal Hossain continued in tied second having traded five birdies for a bogey. Kochhar also hung on to joint second place for the second day running.

Round one leader Karan Pratap Singh slipped to tied second after mixing five birdies with a double-bogey. The rookie’s sharp short-game saw him make some quality chip-putt birdies and four long putts to save par.

Among some prominent names, Bangalore-based Rahil Gangjee (67) was T16 at 7-under-133 while local favourite S.S.P. Chawrasia (65) was T20 at 6-under-134. His nephew Sunit Chowrasia (71), who was overnight tied second, also ended the day in tied 20^th place and they will both play in the same group in round three.

Viraj Madappa (70), missed the cut on his home course as he totaled 1-over-141 to be T63 after round two.

Ridhima goes 6-under at Jaypee Greens

Meanwhile, in Greater Noida, Ridhima Dilawari had an eventful back nine that included an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys as she carded a superb 6-under 66 in the first round of the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Jaypee Greens on Wednesday.

On a day of low scores, Ridhima’s 66 had seven birdies, four of them on the front nine, three bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 13^th.

That gave her a handy two-shot lead over amateur Asmitha Sathish, who impressed with a 4-under 68 that included five birdies and a bogey.

Like for like, almost

Last week’s winner, Gaurika Bishnoi had just two birdies and missed many more, but like Ridhima, she too had an eagle on the par-5 13^th, besides two bogeys as she shot a 2-under 70.

Amateur Anika Varma and Anisha Padukone were tied fourth at 1-under 71, as five players brought home under par scores. 

Amandeep Drall (73) was sixth, while Siddhi Kapoor and Afshan Fatima carded 74s each to be tied seventh. Amateur Nayanika Sanga and rookies Ananya Datar and Anousha Tripathi shot 75s each.

Off day

Experienced stars Neha Tripathi (77), Gursimar Badwal (81) and Smriti Mehra (83) had a rough day. Vandana Agarwal withdrew because of medical reasons after shooting 86 in the first round.

A heartening feature of the day was that two amateurs, Asmitha and Anika, went under-par indicating their potential. Anika may well have been under 70 but for two late bogeys.

Anisha Padukone with 71, including four birdies and three bogeys, was the fifth player to shoot in red numbers.

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