By Rahul Banerji
Overnight joint leader Sunhit Bishnoi carded a fine 4-under par 68 to take a one-shot lead on day two of the Rs. 50 lakh India Cements Pro Championship in Chennai on Thursday.
The Gurgaon youngster came through in tougher conditions on the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course to total 10 under 134 ahead of Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (135).
On a day the wind had more say in proceedings and with tougher pin positions, there were 34 sub-par rounds compared to Wednesday’s 45, despite which Bishnoi, 22, was able to come home in 4 under par.
Jamal Hossain (69) of Bangladesh was third overall one shot back of Sharma (67).
Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar fired the day’s best of 66 to share fourth place with Chandigarh golfer Harendra Gupta (69) on 7-under 137.
The cut fell at 1-over 145 with 54 professionals going through to the money rounds.
Bishnoi (66-68) of the DLF Golf & Country Club earned six birdies against two bogeys on the day.
Quality work
He was on a roll till the hole 14 having picked up six shots courtesy of some quality approach shots and chip-putts but missed a couple of putts to drop two shots over the final four holes.
“I’ve been playing with a lot of confidence and that reflects in my scores this week,” Bishnoi said later.
“I’m visualising and executing shots really well. Since the conditions were tougher today, with the flags tucked in and the wind picking up, I was a little conservative in my approach as compared to round one.”
Akshay Sharma (68-67) moved up eight places from overnight tied 10th as a result of his 67 that featured an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys.
Sharma made a 27-foot eagle conversion on 16, landed it within two feet for birdie on one and also drove the green on the par-4 10th to set up a spectacular birdie there.
Mohd Azhar made eight birdies and two bogeys en route his 66, the day’s best score.
PGTI Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan was tied 14th on 4-under 140 while another leading name Aman Raj was tied 45th on 1-over 145.
None of the Chennai-based players made the cut.
Round 2 top five
134: Sunhit Bishnoi (66-68)
135: Akshay Sharma (68-67)
136: Jamal Hossain (67-69)
137: Mohd Azhar (71-66); Harendra Gupta (68-69)
Also read: Gaurav Pratap, Bishnoi share lead at India Cements Pro C’ship
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