By Rahul Banerji
Young guns Manu Gandas and Yuvraj Singh Sandhu hogged the limelight in round two of the Glade One Masters in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The two 24-year-olds, both searching for a maiden wins on the PGTI, have been knocking on the door for some time now.
DLF-based Gandas (35-30) produced a bogey-free 6-under-30 including five straight birdies to seize the halfway lead on 7-under-65,
Sandhu (34-32) of Chandigarh was a close second on 6-under-66 with an impressive 4-under-32 on the day.
In shared third place n 4-under-68 were Khalin Joshi (34) and Trishul Chinnappa (34) of Bangalore, Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan (34) and Om Prakash Chouhan (33) of Mhow.
The cut came at 2-over-74 with 56 professionals going into the money rounds, the PGTI said.
The opening two rounds consisted of nine holes each with the cut applied after 18 holes.
The third and fourth rounds will now comprise 18 holes each making this a 54-hole event.
Gandas, a leading amateur before he turned professional in 2015, struck a purple patch on Wednesday with five straight birdies from the second to the sixth holes.
Hot putter
Three of them came off a hot putter since from between 12 and 20 feet. He also had two quality up and downs during this phase.
Gandas finally signed off with another 15-foot birdie conversion, climbing eight places from his overnight tied ninth.
Gandas, who began the day two behind the lead, said, “I’ve had two top-10s since the resumption of the tour in November last year so the game is in good shape.
“When one plays just nine holes in a round, one tends to be more conservative as there is no room for comebacks or much margin for error.
“I also began the day with that mindset. But I kept creating chances and the putts kept rolling in for me today. I converted all my opportunities on the greens.
“I didn’t make any errors like I did in round one.
“In the first round I had an early bogey and double but came back well with three birdies on the last five holes.
“My putting began to click towards the end of round one as I sank 10 to 12 footers on the eighth and ninth. I continued my good putting form today.”
Sandhu, the 2019 PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion, had an edgy start with an opening bogey from a missed up and down.
Late surge
Yuvraj, tied third and one off the lead after round one, continued to miss opportunities over the next few holes as 10-foot birdie putts didn’t find the hole on the second, third and fourth.
Sandhu’s fortunes changed from the fifth onward where he chipped-in for eagle from 20 yards.
He sank two long birdies on the sixth and seventh hles from 10 to 20 feet. On the eighth, a good approach helped him set up a his last birdie of the day.
Yuvraj said, “At the start of the day I thought my putter was cold.
“I had a sore back due to playing in totally different conditions over the past two weeks. But then my putter just seemed to wake up after my eagle on the fifth.
‘Good run’
“I’ve had a good run since the resumption of the tour in November having posted three top-10s.
“My improved fitness and my post round drills have given me the reassurance of staying in rhythm. I feel I’m close to winning since I have the game. I just need to calm down a little.”
Abhinav Lohan holed out from 106 yards for an eagle-two on the third hole in his round of 34.
C. Muniyappa of Bangalore had a hole-in-one on the seventh during his round of 33 that placed him tied eighth at two-under-70.
Round one joint leaders M. Dharma (38) of Bengaluru and Anshul Patel (41) of Ahmedabad slipped to tied 14th on 1-under-71 and tied 43rd on 2-over-74 respectively.
Two other Ahmedabad-based professionals who made the cut were Shravan Desai and Jay Pandya, both T28 on 1-over-73.
Also read: Patel uses local comfort to share Glade One Masters lead
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