By Rahul Banerji
Gurgaon rookie Kartik Sharma, in the midst of an exceptional PGTI season with four top-10s to his name, sizzled with a 9-under par 60 to take a two-shot lead on day two of the Pune Open at the Poona Club Golf Course on Thursday.
The 20-year-old left-handed, tied second and three shots off the lead after round one, moved to 13-under 126 with 10 birdies and a bogey during his second round.
Sharma’s 60 is the best round of the RTs 40 lakh tournament so far following an opening 66, the PGTI said.
Overnight leader Abhijit Singh Chadha (63-65) of Chandigarh continued his impressive run with an error-free 4-under 65 to sit in second place on 11-under 128.
There was a fair distance between the top two and the rest as Bangalore’s Syed Saqib Ahmed (64), Om Prakash Chouhan (65) of Mhow, Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (66) and Delhi’s Wasim Khan (67) were tied for third on 6-under 133.
The heavy overnight rain resulted in waterlogging in some parts of the course. As a result, hole 5 was reduced from a Par-4 to a Par-3, dropping par for the day to 69 instead of the regular 70.
In the morning, the 30 players who had not completed their first round did so before the start of round 2 after conditions had delayed the start by an hour.
The cut was declared at 4-over 143 with 59 professionals and all three amateurs in the field going through.
Sharma, 25th in the PGTI Order of Merit, was one-under through seven holes before his round took off with a 30-foot birdie conversion on the eighth.
He picked up shots on the next four holes to make it five birdies in a row till the 12th. Sharma hit it close and made some mid-range putts on this stretch.
Birdie blast
He ended his round with another flurry of birdies on 15, 16 and 18 with a couple of long conversions and an up and down from a tough spot in the rough on the closing hole.
Sharma said, “The starting stretch is a difficult one so I’m glad that I got two pars and two birdies there. I then holed a really good putt on the eighth which got my round going.
“I knew at that point that I’ve got the putter rolling and if I can just stay in the moment and take it one shot at a time from there on, I can end up with a good score.
“After the practice round and the first round I spoke to my coach as I was not comfortable with something in my swing.
“He told me some stuff to work on. I worked on it and as a result hit it better today. But it’s still an ongoing process.”
Chadha landed the ball to within five feet to pick up four birdies. His tee shot on the par-3 second hole stopped just two feet from the pin.
Abhijit also made a good par save after recovering with a chip-putt from the rough on the seventh and has not dropped a shot since his bogey on his opening hole in round one.
Chadha said, “I played some steady golf today and didn’t make too many mistakes to keep myself in play. The greens were playing differently today since there was no rain.
“The speed of the greens was variable so it was tough to make putts especially from a range of 10 to 15 feet. However, I dealt with the conditions well.”
Sagar Raghuvanshi (71-68) was the highest-placed among the Pune-based golfers in tied 20th on level-par 139.
The other Pune golfers who made the cut were Aditya Bhandarkar and amateur Rohan Dhole Patil (both T43 on 3-over 142) as well as Pratik Nirmale (T52 on 4-over 143).
The two other amateurs who made the cut were 14-year-old Australian of Indian origin Aarav D. Shah (T20 on level par 139) and Delhi’s Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa, son of former India cricketer Nikhil Chopra, T34 on two-over 141.
Also read: Abhijit Singh Chadha leads on rain-marred opening day at Pune Open
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