Four in tie for day 2 lead at Delhi Challenge, Kaul is top Indian

Co-leader Jesper Sandborg of Sweden drives on day two of the $300,000 Delhi Challenger at the Classic Gilf and Country Club near Gurgaon on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji 

Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg, Austrian Lukas Nemecz and Quim Vidal of Spain shared the halfway lead of the $300,000 Delhi Challenge at the Classic GCC on Friday.

The four were locked together on 11 under par 133 in the event jointly sanctioned by the HotelPlanner Tour and PGTI.

While Sandborg and Vidal shot 68s to continue in the joint lead for a second day running, Nemecz fired a 64 to climb 46 places and Sciot-Siegrist carded a 66 to gain five spots, the PGTI said.

England’s Will Hopkins (66) and Davis Bryant (68) of the US were tied for fifth, one shot behind the leaders.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul produced an error-free second round of 66 to climb 25 spots to tied seventh place on the leaderboard as the best-placed Indian. His 36-hole total read 9 under 135, two strokes behind the leaders.

Seventy-one professionals made the cut at 3 under 141 including 19 Indians.

Hot driver

Kaul (69-66) produced long and accurate drives all day, making most fairways.

The 24-year-old picked up three birdies over the first 11 holes on Friday, one coming as a result of an excellent pitch shot that landed four feet from the flag and another being a 15-foot conversion.

Kaul drove the par-4 12^th green and sank an eight-footer for an eagle-two to make rapid progress on the leaderboard. He finished with an excellent bunker shot on 18 that set up a tap-in birdie.

“This week my driving and tee shots have been outstanding. I’ve been hitting it quite long to set up opportunities for myself. I hit a 400-yard drive in round one,” Kaul said later.

“Importantly, I’ve had a solid and consistent start to the season having already posted a third-place finish. It’s now about putting it all together in the last two rounds.”

The other Indians inside the top 20 were Aryan Roopa Anand (68), Arjun Prasad (68) and Angad Cheema (71), all tied for 12^th on 8 under 136 while Varun Parikh (68), Saptak Talwar (69) and Harshjeet Singh Sethie (69) were T18 on 7 under 137.

Noida’s Amardeep Malik made a hole-in-one on the fifth during his second round of 68 but missed the cut as he mustered 1 under 143 for the 36 holes. 

Also read: Mane, Cheema among five-way tie for Delhi Challenger lead