Paul holds healthy lead at halfway stage of Hero Indian Open

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Yannik Paul stretched his lead to five shots after day two of the $2 million Hero Indian Open with a three-under-par 69 at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday.

The German who finished runner-up in Thailand last week was well ahead on 10-under 134 of a four-strong chasing pack that included Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema, all on five-under 139.

Paul, who will turn 29 next week also knows it is easy to slip up on a course that has so far conceded a best tournament-winning total of 11-under-par. He started well on Friday

with three birdies in the first six holes, and then went into patient-play mode.

Cheema mixed three birdies against two bogeys in a gritty round that saw his closing birdie putt horseshoe out of the cup, a summary of a day scoring got harder and harder.

Alongside were Gudmundur Kristjansson (71), a physics graduate and the highest world-ranked Icelandic player, Finland’s Mikko Korhonen (72) and German veteran Marcel Siem (70), who later said the course set-up reminded him of a Major.

Day one home hero Honey Baisoya (74) and Dutchman Joost Luiten (70) were tied sixth on four-under.

Day’s best

Japan’s Augusta Masters-bound Kazuki Higa had the day’s best card of a bogey-free 66.

Day two leader Paul said later, “I only noticed that last week, I was a bit calmer and more collected because you feel like you’ve gained experience last year and that helped me last week.

“I’ll try not to focus too much on the leaderboard, on a course like this anything can happen.

“I like India, it’s my first time here. Every tournament I’m going to, I’m trying to win, so I’ll just see what the weekend brings and take it from there. 

“I probably played better today than yesterday (when he shot  65). I felt the pins were in tougher spots so you had a lot of downhill putts.  I think the course suits my game,” he added.

Kristjansson, who came through Qualifying School, said, “It’s very nice. I’ve had a decent last two weeks (making the cut in his last two starts), compared to what came before.

“There is some nice progression in my game. I’m just loving it out there. I like going to new places so these last few weeks have been lovely.”

Added Korhonen, “We’ll see what happens on the weekend, things can happen quickly on this course.

Patience the key

“You need to stay patient. I made a double on 17 today and you just can’t miss it in the rough on that hole. Period.”

Tied for eighth with Higa were Yuvraj Sandhu (71), Adrien Saddier (68), Spaniard Santiago Tarrio (71) and England’s Andrew Wilson (70) at 3-under 141 for 36 holes.

The closest any player came to Paul during the day was Honey Baisoya, who with Joost Luiten, a six-time DP World Tour winner, was tied eighth when the second round finished.

Baisoya started with a birdied first hole to get to seven-under. Two double bogeys and a bogey in the next six holes then saw him slip but the DLF golfer clawed his way back with five birdies against two more dropped shots.

The cut came at four-over par 148 with some notable names squeezing in including two-time former champion S.S.P. Chawrasia (73), Scotsman Robert MacIntyre (74), Gaganjeet Bhullar (73) and Shiv Kapur (73).

Notable eliminations casualties included defending champion Stephen Gallacher (73), Thomas Bjorn (77), three-time former champion Jyoti Randhawa (78), Rashid Khan (81), and Guido Migliozzi (78). 

Also read: Late runner Paul hauls in local lad Baisoya at Hero Indian Open