Baisoya, Harsh Gangwar share lead at Players Championship

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Sachin Baisoya and was joined atop the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship leaderboard by Harsh Gangwar in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The two Delhi golfers led the Rs 1 crore event presented by Tollygunge Club on 10 under par 134.

While Baisoya followed his six-under 64 in round one with a solid four-under 66 in round two, Gangwar turned in a 64 at the PGTI’s season-opening event.

Baisoya (64-66) and Gangwar (66-64) headed Patna’s Aman Raj (66) and Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh (65) who were tied third on nine under 131s.

The cut fell at one-under 139 with 52 professionals and one amateur making the final two rounds, the PGTI said.

Baisoya continued his good form on day two with five birdies and a bogey.

The 27-year-old, a bronze medallist in the Gandhinagar National Games last year, rode some pin-point chipping and putting on the day.

Baisoya chipped in for birdie from the bunker on 17 and sank two long birdie conversions.

Sachin said, “I had a good ball-striking day in round one but today was more about my short game as I chipped and putted really well.

Confidence boost

“A good round at the start of the season always helps the confidence and that’s what lifted my spirits going into round two today. I’ll be focusing on maintaining consistency in the last two rounds.”

Gangwar, tied for eighth overnight and two shots off the pace, was level par for the day till the sixth before he began turning it around with a birdie on the par-5 seventh.

Twenty-five-year-old Harsh also picked up shots on the following two par-5s with to his accurate hitting and also drained two long birdie putts.

Harsh said, “My ball-striking on the back-nine brought me into contention. I also made greens in regulation on all 18 holes today. I couldn’t have asked for a better day on the course.”

Udayan Mane (68) was tied 19^th on four-under 136 while defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (68) was tied 42^nd on the cut line.

Kolkata’s Sandeep Yadav (70) was the lone amateur to make the cut, tied for 42^nd place alongside Raju Ali Mollah (68), the only Kolkata professional to make the cut.

Also read: Sachin Baisoya opens season with sparkling card at Players C’ship