Kochhar emerges halfway leader with two-shot edge

By Rahul Banerji

Karandeep Kochhar, still in search of his first win since turning professional, emerged halfway leader with a 4-under-68 at the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Kochhar, playing on his home course, climbed from his overnight tied second with his 10-under-134 total, the PGTI media office said.

Delhi-based Arjun Prasad had the day’s joint lowest score of 67 to move up 10 places to shared second on 8-under-136 alongside Yashas Chandra (68) of Mysore.

Both Arjun and Yashas played their second rounds of the Rs 30 lakh event at the Panchkula Golf Club.

The action now shifts to Chandigarh GC which will host the final two rounds after the cut, which came at 2-over-146, 53 professionals going through to the money rounds.

Kochhar (66-68), runner-up in Panchkula last week, turned in another solid effort with five birdies against one bogey.

Early gains

The 21-year-old, whose only PGTI win came in 2016 while he was still an amateur, got his round going with a birdie on the second hole.

He picked up another shot on the third and the made a couple of par saves on the ninth and 10^th.

An accurate approach shot on the 12^th earned Kochhar his third birdie and he picked up shots on the two par-5s.

The lanky Kochhar’s first bogey of the week came on the 16^th hole.

 “I’ve been quite consistent since last week so I’m quite pleased about that,” Kochhar said later.

“I dropped my first bogey today in three rounds (including the last round from last week’s event) and that gives me a lot of confidence going forward.

‘Good round’

“I struck it well today but could’ve driven a little better. Overall, a good round despite missing out on birdie chances on the last two holes.

“I’ll have the comfort of playing in my home conditions in Chandigarh on the last two days, so look forward to making the most of it.”

Arjun Prasad (69-67), another 21-year-old and a good friend of Karandeep, produced a top-notch 67 featuring six birdies and a bogey.

Prasad, who qualified for and played on the Asian Tour in his rookie season in 2017, said, “I was patient today and gave myself a lot of chances.

“I did well with the putter especially on the back-nine. I’ve been in good rhythm since the last round of the previous event.

“The last eight holes in Panchkula last week were three-under for me. That gave me confidence coming into this week.

“It’ll be fun to play alongside Karandeep in the leader group tomorrow. We’ve both grown up playing a lot of golf together but it’s been a while since we played our last round together.”

Mixed bag

Yashas Chandra (68-68) posted a second straight 68 to share second place, the round studded with seven birdies, a bogey and a double.

Last week’s winner Akshay Sharma (68) of Chandigarh, was in a four-way tie for fourth on 7-under-137 along with Veer Ahlawat (71), Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh (67) and Kolkata’s Shankar Das (69).

Round one leader Aadil Bedi (73) of Chandigarh dropped to T8 on 6-under-138.

The seven others in tied eighth included PGTI Order of Merit leader Udayan Mane (69) of Pune as well as local players Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (69) and Amrit Lal (70).

Defending champ Rashid Khan (73) of Delhi was a further shot back in tied 17^th along with Kolkata’s Divyanshu Bajaj (75), who dropped 15 places from his overnight tied second.

Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, Patna’s Aman Raj, Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa and Bangalore’s Khalin Joshi were all tied 21^st on 2-under-142.  

Also read: Bedi sets the pace with flawless round on home ground