By Rahul Banerji
India’s most prolific winner on the Asian Tour, Gaganjeet Bhullar was in a share of 11th place at the halfway point of the St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland on Friday.
Bhullar had a 36-hole aggregate of 8 under par 136 (69-67), six shots behind Spain’s David Puig, who led a packed field at Fairmont St Andrews
Lying shared third overnight, Anirban Lahiri and Veer Ahlawat shot matching 1 under 71s to slip into tied 15th place on 7 under 137, with Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-68) a further shot behind in tied 21st.
Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia (69-71), Rahil Gangjee (70-70), Viraj Madappa (67-73) and Rashid Khan (70-71) were the other Indians to make the cut that fell at 3 under 141.
At the top, Puig looks to close in on a first professional win as he leads South Africa’s Jaco Ahlers at the sixth International Series event of the season by three shots.
Puig, who turned pro last September, went 8 under 64 – the week’s low round of – to total 14 under 130 as the field made good use of a second straight benign day on the venue’s Torrance Course.
Australia’s Matt Jones (65) and Andrew Dodt (68), Eugenio Chacarra (66) of Spain, England’s James Wilson (66), American Micah Lauren Shin (67), Korea’s Seungtaek Lee (67) and Chile’s Mito Pereira (68) were tied for third, four shots behind Puig.
Flying finish
On Friday, Puig made nine birdies, to go with the 10 he made on Thursday, including four straight to close out his second round.
“Played pretty good again,” the 21-year-old said on the Asian Tour website later.
“Didn’t start that good on the first five holes swing wise, but yeah, after number five, the par- three, I think I played very well and hit it very good off the tee.
“And almost made every putt I needed to make, so yeah, I’m very happy with my game.”
Puig missed out at last year’s International Series Morocco, where he was third, and last week’s International Series England, where he tied for fourth.
He has, however, enjoyed team success on the LIV Golf League this season, winning four team titles with Torque GC – the franchise also consisting of captain Joaquin Niemann and Pereira.
Puig says he is reaping the rewards of many hours of practice and preparation.
“Off the tee I got a lot better for sure. I got longer and straighter with pretty much every club, which obviously helps a ton, especially on courses like this one where you need to get to fairways.
Getting better
“I would say because of focusing too much on that, maybe I am not that good, or as good as I want to be, or as good as I was with the wedges, but it’s a work in progress.
“I know it’s the best part of my game, it just didn’t show up yet the way I want it. But yeah, I mean working with Dave Phillips, who is my coach, we’ve been working hard, swing wise, setup wise and also in the gym, so very, very happy with the improvement.”
Overnight leader Pereira is the highest ranked player in the field on the Official World Golf Ranking, in 72nd place, and said he was pleased with his 68.
“I played solid, a solid round, just missed a couple of putts that could have could have been birdie, but really solid overall, I mean just one bogey. Pretty much all day in the fairways, greens, so happy with the round.”
Korean-American Shin caught the eye with his finish, birdieing five out of the last seven holes on Friday. “I’ve been putting well this week,” said Shin later.
Competent display
“To be honest my back is not too good right now, so I was actually not expecting myself to be in this position. Plus, I’m not actually hitting it that well, but I’m managing to get my job done.”
Further down the field Thailand’s amateur star Ratchanon ‘TK” Chantananuwat, who made it through to the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship in June, returned his second successive 70 for a 4 under 140.
Spanish star Sergio Garcia added a 69 to an off-colour opening 77 to miss out on the weekend with a 2 over 146 total.
Also read: Lahiri, Ahlawat in six-way tie for day one lead at St Andrews Bay
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