Sudhir Sharma maintains lead in Delhi-NCR Open round two

By Rahul Banerji

Local knowledge, especially in adverse circumstances can be a useful thing to have in the bag as Sudhir Sharma in proving in the Delhi-NCR Open at Noida Golf Course.

The Greater Noida golfer returned a level par 72 on Wednesday to maintain his lead at the halfway stage of the Rs. 1 crore event as a followup to his astonishing eight-under opening round over nine holes.

In the first two rounds reduced by rain to 27 holes, Sudhir (28-72) was on eight-under 100 while Delhi’s Honey Baisoya had a 69 to be one shot behind on seven-under 101 in second position, the PGTI said.

Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh (68) and Ranjit Singh (69) of Chandigarh were tied for third on five-under 103.

With the rain staying away on Wednesday, the second round was played over 18 holes and the cut was applied after 27 holes. At one-over 109, it left 56 making it to the money rounds.

Sudhir Sharma, whose round featured two eagles on Tuesday, had a contrasting second round that included four birdies and four bogeys.

Sudhir made a strong start with three birdies on his first four holes where he hit his wedges to perfection, chipping in on the second hole.

Off the boil

The 35-year-old, a two-time winner on the PGTI Feeder Tour, then went off the boil resulting in four bogeys between holes eight and 17 with a birdie in between.

Sudhir said, “I felt good about my game at the start of the day, especially after the first-round effort. I even started off well with those early birdies.

“But the bogey on the eighth just broke my momentum. However, I knew it’s always tough to follow up an effort of eight-under with another such score. I’m happy to still be placed at the top largely thanks to my strong front nine.”

Baisoya fired a hole-in-one on the third during his round of 73 that placed him tied fifth at four-under 104.

Pune’s Pranav Mardikar also struck an ace on hole 16 as he carded a 68 to be placed tied ninth at three-under 105. 

Asian Tour regulars Gaganjeet Bhullar and Rashid Khan made it through as did DP World (European) Tour cardholder Manu Gandas and NGC’s Amardeep Malik.

Also read: Sudhir Sharma goes eight-under for NGC clubhouse lead