Colombo’s N. Thangaraja, a three-time winner this season, shot the day’s best to hold the 36-hole clubhouse lead in the Vishwa Samudra Open at Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
The experienced N. Thangaraja moved atop the Vishwa Samudra Open leaderboard with the second day’s best card of 6 under par 66 at the Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday,
The Rs 2 crore event is being presented by PGTI president Kapil Dev.
Thangaraja (73-66), a three-time winner this year and currently fourth on the money list, took his 36-hole tally to 5 under 139 for a two-stroke advantage over the rest of field, the OGYI said.
The Sri Lankan climbed 17 places from tied 18th while overnight leader Jairaj Singh Sandhu (68-73) dropped to second on 3 under 141.
Dhruv Sheoran (68), PGTI Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu (69), Viraj Madappa (69) and Rashid Khan (70) were tied third on 2 under 142.
Five players out of 125 could not complete their second round on Wednesday when play was suspended due to fading light and will resume from 7:30 am onwards on Thursday.
Round three will not commence before 8:15 am and the cut is expected to fall at 8 over 152.
Home worries
On another high-scoring day, Thangaraja, who missed last week’s PGTI event in Jaipur due to the floods at home in Sri Lanka, outshone the field with solid tee shots, approaches and chipping.
The 44-year-old made the most of the four par-5s with birdie conversions on all of them. He sank two putts from between 12 and 20 feet and landed his chips within five feet on four occasions.
“My home in Colombo was affected by the recent floods. Fortunately, there was no major damage,” Thanga said later.
“I had decided not to play in Delhi this week as we were still trying to get our lives back on track. But my wife insisted that I play in Delhi because I have been in good form.
“I missed out on practice for about 15 days with my home course also being flooded. I just managed to get one day of practice before leaving for Delhi.
“Keeping the circumstances in mind, I’m quite proud of my effort so far this week. I’m also coming from warm weather into the cold Delhi weather so adapting has taken some time.
“But I was back to striking the ball the way I was doing a few weeks back. That is reflected in my performance today.”
Also read: Jairaj Singh Sandhu holds first day lead at Vishwa Samudra Open
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