Bhullar keeps his event lead as Gangjee rises with personal best

By Rahul Banerji

Gaganjeet Bhullar maintained his two-shot advantage after signing for a 6 under 66 in round two of the Rs 3 crore Tata Steel Tour Championship in Jamshedpur on Friday.

At the season-ending event being played on the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses, Bhullar’s total at the halfway stage read 14-under 130.

Rahil Gangjee (70-62) shot a personal best of 10 under 62 to climb 21 spots into tied second on 12-under 132, matching the previous best at Jamshedpur, the PGTI said.

Gangjee sank 10 birdies on the day to match the rounds previously recorded by Khalin Joshi and Chikkarangappa S. during the 2020 and 2022 editions respectively.

Angad Cheema (66-66) carded a second straight 66 to continue in tied second place.

Bhullar (64-66), a 12-time international winner, continued his impressive run with an error-free 66 on Friday.

He made birdies on four out of the five par-5s and drove the green on the par-4 fourth to set up another birdie. Bhullar’s sixth birdie was a 15-foot conversion.

The 2020 winner said later, “I drove it well, only missing two fairways and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities.

Solid display

“I missed a few short putts in Beldih, and other than that it was a solid round. Importantly, I’ve been capitalising on the par-5s therefore giving myself some eagle opportunities.

“At the back of my mind, I still have the good memories from 2020, which always helps. I’ve also been in a good rhythm, having won in Asia recently.

“My driving and putting is right up there at the moment and I’ve just dropped one bogey so far this week. The goal is to repeat what I did in the first two rounds and try to repeat the routine and process for the next 36 holes.”

Gangjee was on fire on the front nine at Golmuri where he picked up seven birdies, two of them from great bunker shots and two from long conversions.

The three-time international winner then added three more birdies on the back nine at Beldih.

Personal best

Rahil said, “I never shot a score of 10-under before in a tournament. Nine-under has been my previous best. So this round is quite special.

“The mantra for today after the first nine holes was to stay out of my own head and stay out of my own way. That was the only way to go deeper.

“A couple of good long par putts on the back nine were crucial in keeping me going. Finishing with a birdie was great.

“Golmuri is more scoring because all the par-5s there are reachable. Therefore, players will always look to make a good start there.”

Cheema had seven birdies and a bogey in his 66 to end the day in joint second place along with Gangjee.

Defending champion Chikkarangappa S (67) was in tied 17^th place on 7-under 137 while Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Om Prakash Chouhan (68) was tied 33^rd on 4 under 140.

Jamshedpur-based professionals Karan Taunk (144) and Kurush Heerjee (147) were tied 57^th and tied 64^th respectively.

Round 2 leaders

130: Gaganjeet Bhullar (64-66)

132: Rahil Gangjee (70-62); Angad Cheema (66-66)

133: N, Thangaraja (66-67)

Also read: Bhullar sets the early pace at Tata Steel Tour Championship