Prasad builds on overnight Jaipur Open lead with 2nd round 64

Arjun Prasad of Delhi chips in during the second round of the Rajasthan Tourism presents Jaipur Open at the Rambagh course on Thursday to maintain his overnight advantage. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Arjun Prasad buttressed his overnight lead with a second-round 6 under par 64 at the Rs 1 crore Jaipur Open at the Rambagh Golf Club on Thursday.

Delhi’s Prasad (62-64), the first-round leader by a shot, extended his lead to three strokes on 14-under 126 with a round that featured an eagle, five birdies and a bogey, the PGTI said.

Pune winner Kshitij Naveed Kaul (64-65) of Delhi was second on 11 under 129 after his round that was studded with an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys.

Live coverage from 9 am at https://www.youtube.com/live/Q6GugNSYYAQ?si=XuLib6HWRuqFYKVT and from 11 am on Eurosport Channel

Six players shared third place on 10 under 130 including Milind Soni, Sachin Baisoya, Ravi Kumar, Mari Muthu R., M. Dharma and Harendra Gupta.

Jaipur’s Prakhar Asawa (70) was the only local golfer to make the cut, holding shared 35^th on 3 under 137, which was also the cut line as 50 professionals survived.

Twin aces

Canadian golfer Sukhraj Singh Gill made a hole-in-one on Thursday to claim a Nissan Magnite in Jaipur on Thursday. Image courtesy PGTI.

The day was also notable as Canada’s Sukhraj Singh Gill fired a hole-in-one on the 11^th to win a Nissan Magnite hatchback that has been on offer for quite a while.

Gill’s five-iron tee shot found the hole and won the car but he missed the cut after totalling a 2 under 138.

There was a second ace on the day with Chandigarh’s Aadil Bedi holing his tee shot on the second hole and he too would miss the cut on 1 under 139.

Prasad made early gains with a 15-foot birdie conversion on hole 11 and another on 14 before gaining further momentum with a chip-in eagle on 17.

On his inbound nine, the 25-year-old added three more birdies to his card while a lip-out from seven feet on the closing hole led to his first bogey of the week.

“It was another solid round. I kept it in play throughout and other than the birdies I also made some good up and downs to save par on holes 12 and 16,” Prasad said.

“I kept it simple and stayed in the moment. The eagle was quite a confidence booster as well.”

Also read: Arjun Prasad leads Jaipur Open with bogey-free opening round