Former Panasonic Open India winner Khalin Joshi on his way into the day two SECL Chhattisgarh Open lead in New Raipur on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Khalin Joshi grabbed the day two lead at the SECL Chhattisgarh Open with a 9 under par 60 at the Fairway Golf & Lake Resort in New Raipur on Wednesday.
The Bangalore golfer will take a one-shot lead on 14 under 124 into Moving Day at the Rs 1 crore event presented by Chhattisgarh Tourism, the PGTI said.
Panasonic Open India 2018 winner Joshi (64-60), who equalled the tournament low of 60 achieved by Shaurya Binu in round one, climbed into the lead from his overnight tied 13th place.
Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (64-61) and Gurgaon’s Kartik Sharma (63-62) shared second place on 13 under 125 with bogey-free rounds of 61 and 62 respectively.
Top-finishing rookie of the 2023 season, Bhattacharya moved up 11 spots while Kartik jumped five places on Wednesday while day one leader Binu had a 67 to share eighth place on 11 under 127.
Shankar Das of Kolkata made a hole-in-one on the second hole during his round of 66 to make the cut on the line in tied 43rd place on 4 under 134. Sixty professionals made the money rounds.
Changing gears
Joshi had a relatively quiet front nine with three birdies and a bogey. However, it was a very different back nine as he had a chip-in eagle and six birdies against a lone dropped shot.
Six-time winner Joshi, a former PGTI no. 1, left himself a tap-in for birdie after an excellent chip on 11 besides the eagle on 12.
“I struck the ball much better than round one and my putting was very consistent,” Joshi said.
“The eagle on 12 really got me going. I like the layout here. While the Par-5s are reachable, the Par-3s can be very tricky.
“I negotiated both the Par-5s and Par-3s very well today. The windy conditions and the hazards also add to the challenge here at the Fairway Golf & Lake Resort.”
Also read: Binu goes 9-under to lead day one Chhattisgarh Open field
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.