By Rahul Banerji
Lucknow golfers took the limelight on home turf during round two of the Tata Steel PGTI Feeder Tour at the Palms Golf Club & Resort on Thursday with Amardeep Rawat caring a bogey-free 6-under-50 to emerge joint leader on 10-under-80 along with Abhinav Lohan of Gurgaon.
Another local son, Sanjeev Kumar, shot a flawless 5-under-51 in round two to be one off the lead in second place at 9-under-81.
The cut fell at level-par-90 with 39 professionals making the grade for the third and final round.
Following heavy rain for the last week over Lucknow, part of the course was rendered unplayable and on teh second day, the round was played over 15 holes with par for the course being 56.
Rawat (30-50), tied third overnight two off the lead, made a slow start as he had just one birdie over his first nine holes.
Accurate irons
Rawat, who had a good 2018 Feeder Tour season with three top-10s including a runner-up finish, then got in the groove with his ball-striking as he kept landing it close to the pin and picked up five birdies on the last six holes.
He had three tap-ins on the final stretch.
Raway, who was seventh on the 2018 Feeder Tour Order of Merit, said, “My hitting really improved towards the end of the round today. I also made two long conversions. It was great to finish with birdies on the last four holes. That gives me a lot of confidence going into the final round.
“I’ve not had a good year so far as I’ve been struggling with my hitting. But the way I struck it today, I’m now hopeful of turning around my form.”
Lohan (29-51), one off the lead after round one and in second place, stormed to 6-under over his first nine holes as he landed it within four feet on five occasions and also drained a 25-footer.
Late slip
Lohan, fresh from his tied 21st at the Asian Tour event at Classic and tied 11th at last week’s Jaipur Open, then came up with two bogeys and a birdie over his last six holes to end up with a 5-under for the second day in a row.
He said, “I started really well today and hit some accurate iron shots to set up those early birdies. The three-putt on the closing 18th was the only disappointment. I feel I’m well placed going into the last round and just need to carry on playing in the same manner.”
Sanjeev Kumar, overnight tied third, kept himself in the hunt with a bogey-free 5-under-51 to end round two in third place on 9-under-81.
Delhi’s Wasim Khan was fourth at 7-under-83 while Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar, round one leader Kashif Alam of Noida and Kolkata’s Pintu Haldar were all in tied fifth on 6-under-84s.
Former Indian Open champion Vijay Kumar of Lucknow was tied 28th on level-par-90.
Also read: Khan, Gaurav Pratap in joint lead at Wishtown Feeder event
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