Pune’s Rohan Dhole Patil in action at the TNGF Cosmo course on day two of the Chennai Pro Championship on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Rohan Dhole Patil of Pune posted a 6 under par 66 to hold the joint lead on day two of the Rs 50 lakh Chennai Pro Championship at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course in Chennai on Wednesday.
Gurgaon golfer Manu Gandas (68) was the co-leader for a second straight day after he totalled 9 under par 135 alongside Dhole Patil, the PGTI said.
Dhruv Sheoran, also of Gurgaon shot a bogey-free 67 to end the day in third on 8 under 136.
Chandigarh’s Bishmadpal Singh, playing his first event this year, fired an 8 under 64 to set a new course record and end the day in tied fourth on 7 under 137 along with Nepal’s Subash Tamang (69).
The cut was applied at 1 over 145 with 55 professionals making the final two days.
Dhole Patil (69-66) was flying on the opening day, 7 under through 12 holes but saw his round derailed by a quadruple bogey.
However, the 28-year-old who is searching for his maiden win, fought back in round two to rise nine places from his overnight tied 10th.
Rohan began Wednesday with birdies on the first three holes where he came up with a couple of excellent chip-putts and drove the green on the par-4 third.
Between the sixth and 14th holes, Dhole Patil dropped three shots in exchange for two birdies as he missed a few opportunities on the greens.
Late gains
A second chip-in of the day that led to birdie on hole 15 saw him bounce back as he went on to pick up another shot on 16 and then made an eight-foot eagle conversion on 18.
“I feel my game has been trending in the right direction since the start of the season’s second half,” Rohan said later.
“I shot a few low rounds in Mysore and Coimbatore having worked on all aspects of my game during the mid-season break.
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“I had a good first round here in Chennai barring one bad hole. I knew I was playing well so I wanted to keep it going, and chipped and putted really well today.
“In fact, I made two chip-ins, one for birdie and the other for par on the fifth. I also made a few good up and downs from the bunkers.”
Gandas (67-68) began the day with a bogey but rallied with five birdies, including a couple of conversions from 12 to 15 feet.
Gandas said, “Like round one, I missed a lot of fairways and greens today. But importantly, I hung in there and made some quality up and downs to keep myself in the contest.”
Chandigarh golfer Bishmadpal Singh, who received a late spot invitation for the event, carded a course record 8 under par 64 on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
Lucky break
Bishmadpal (73-64), who narrowly missed his full card for the season at the Qualifying School held at the start of the year, improved upon the previous course record of 66 set by Rohan Dhole Patil earlier in the day.
Rohan had in turn bettered the course record of 67 set by the leading trio of Manu Gandas, Yashas Chandra and Syed Saqib Ahmed in round one on Tuesday.
Bishmadpal, whose twin Brashwarpal is a regular on the PGTI, had missed out for this week through Monday qualifying but finally played on a spot given by the PGTI.
Bishmadpal made nine birdies and a bogey during his sensational effort on Wednesday.
He sank a chip-in, drained four putts from a range of 15 to 30 feet and played some outstanding approach shots including one from 135 yards on the seventh that stopped one inch from the hole.
Bishmadpal, who jumped 53 places from his overnight tied 57th, said, “I’m delighted with today’s round especially since I got an opportunity to play for the first time this season.
“I’ve been struggling from the tees but have been solid around the greens. I would say I’ve had great luck since my mother has been caddying for me. She has been on the bag for the last 22 holes and I have made birdies on 11 of those and dropped just one bogey.”
Professional S. Prasanth, tied 42nd on 145, was the only Chennai-based player to make the cut.
Also read: Gandas soars with three eagles into shared Chennai lead
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