Thangaraja grabs four-shot lead with a 62 at Golconda Masters

N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka on his way into the second day lead at the Telangana Golconda Masters in Hyderabad on Friday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Veteran Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja fired a sizzling 8 under par 62 to storm into a commanding four-shot lead on 13-under 127 at the Telangana Golconda Masters at the Hyderabad Golf Association course on Friday.

Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema had a 63 while Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek produced a 65 and Delhi’s Saarthak Chhibber shot 68 as the trio was tied second at 9 under 131 after 36 holes, the PGTI said. 

In contrast to round one, it was largely a bright and sunny day and the cut fell 1-under 139 with 51 pro’s making the money rounds.

Thangaraja (65-62), a four-time winner on the PGTI, who was tied sixth and two off the lead after round one, skyrocketed to the top of the pack following a second straight error-free round that featured two eagles and four birdies.

The Colombo resident, 43, who last won on the PGTI exactly a year back in Visakhapatnam, began with an eagle from four feet on the Par-5 10^th.

Quality hitting

His excellent driving helped set up his second eagle as he drove the green on the Par-4 14^th to leave himself a seven-foot putt.

After the inspiring start, Thangaraja continued to climb the leaderboard with some good hitting as he collected four more birdies on the 17^th, 18^th, second and sixth where all his birdie putts were within three feet of the flag.

In round one, Thanga had made a quiet start with nine straight pars before breaking loose loose with a 40-foot eagle conversion and three birdies on the back nine.

Thangaraja said, “I’m delighted with my ball-striking. I made 14 greens in regulation today and was equally good with my driver and irons on day one.

“It’s great to have made three eagles just halfway through the tournament. I’ve had a great time on the back nine on both days having done the bulk of my scoring there.

“I’m quite confident going into the weekend as I’ve always played well here at HGA. I have a number of top-10s at this venue and have even been involved in a playoff here. The course layout suits my game as I draw the ball a lot.

“Over the last one month, I worked hard on my putting since I was missing a lot of short putts in the PGTI events in August. As a result, my putting is also sharper this week.”

Cheema’s 63 featured an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys, saw him jump 33 spots to tied second.

Danek’s flawless 65 helped him climb nine spots into joint second, the Czech enjoying a fruitful day with the putter making three long birdie conversions including a 30-footer.

Overnight joint leader Chhibber fired a 68 on Friday to slip one spot to tied second.

Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat returned a 66 to sit T5 on 8 under 132.

Mohd Azhar (69) was the only local golfer to make the cut in tied 39^th on 2 under 138.

Also read: Three-way tie for lead on day one of Telangana Golconda Masters