By Rahul Banerji
Rookie Saptak Talwar followed his first round of 6-under 64 with an equally impressive 65 to emerge as the halfway leader on 11-under 129 in the Bhawani Singh Rathore presents Jaipur Open 2023 at Rambagh Golf Club on Thursday.
Manu Gandas, the 2022 Tata Steel PGTI Ranking champion, was second on 10-under 130 with a second straight 65 at the Rs 1 crore event powered by AU Small Finance Bank.
The cut came down at 1-under 139 with 55 professionals making the money rounds, the PGTI said.
Greater Noida-based Talwar, one shot behind overnight leader Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh, picked up two quick birdies between eight and 10 feet to get his round going on Thursday.
The 24-year-old then dropped his only shot of the day but recovered with a bunker shot to set up a birdie on the very next hole.
Tap-in gain
Talwar added three more birdies after the turn including an 18-foot conversion on and a tap-in after having produced a superb tee shot on a par-3 hole.
Saptak, currently 38th on the ranking with three top-10s this season, said, “I placed it well today and made good up and downs to keep the momentum going.
“Having made the turn on 3-under, the 18-foot conversion immediately which was my best putt of the day, helped me take forward the momentum on the front nine.
“There was just one blemish on my card but other than that, I handled the course well. I hope to keep repeating the same over the next two days.”
Gandas had a second successive bogey-free round to move up two spots to second place.
Day one leader Sharma (68) and 2018 Jaipur Open winner Aman Raj (66) were tied for third place on 9-under 131.
Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader and last year’s champion Om Prakash Chouhan missed the cut by one shot. All the Jaipur-based professionals missed out as well.
Also read: Akshay Sharma takes early lead at Jaipur Open with fiery opener
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