By Rahul Banerji
Delhi’s Honey Baisoya and Khalin Joshi of Bangalore shared the lead after the second round of the J&K Open 2021 at the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar.
Baisoya (67-69), with a new putter this week, went error-free for the second day to aggregate 8-under 136, the Professional Golf Tour of India said.
Joshi (69-67) also found his range on the greens to return a flawless 5-under 67 and join Baisoya at the top in the Rs. 40 lakh PGTI event.
Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72-65) followed a first-round 72 with the joint lowest score of the day, a 7-under 65 that saw him climb 22 places to tied third on 7-under 137.
Overnight leader Udayan Mane (65-72) slipped to tied third following his level par round on Thursday.
Ahmedabad’s Shravan Desai (69-68) was in a three-way tie for third with Yuvraj and Mane.
The cut was declared at 2-over 146 and 54 professionals made it to the final two rounds.
Steady display
Baisoya, a six-time winner on the PGTI, reaped the reward for keeping errors out of his game for the second day running.
He made three successive birdies on the back nine and had pars on all the other holes.
The 25-year-old said, “I was struggling with my putting prior to this event and I missed the cut in the last two events.
“So I changed my putter which seems to have made all the difference here in Srinagar as my putting has been the best part of my game on the first two days.
“I had a great stretch from the 11th hole onward today. I made a terrific par save on the 11th making an up and down from a tough lie.
“That kind of lifted me and helped me go on a birdie run over the next three holes.”
Good rhythm
Asian Tour winner Joshi began with birdies on his first two holes and carried the rhythm through his round to finish with five birdies in all.
The 29-year-old Khalin, who had a top-20 the last time he played in Srinagar in 2014, said, “I’ve been striking it well but my putting wasn’t up there before this match.
“But I made some crucial putts today especially for par on the fourth and sixth.”
Sandhu was inspired playing alongside Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa as he struck a 65, hitting it close on most holes.
He managed to retrieve a birdie on 14 despite being in the bunker and staring at a difficult up and down.
Mane had four birdies on Thursday but his two bogeys and a double-bogey on the second made it a mixed day for him.
Standout gain
Shravan Desai’s eagle-two on the third stood out in his round of 68 that placed him tied third.
Karnal’s Mani Ram also shot a 65, like Yuvraj, to record the lowest score of the day.
He ended the day in tied sixth on 6-under 138 along with Delhi-based Kshitij Naveed Kaul (68) Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat (71) and Dhruv Sheoran (66).
Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel made a hole-in-one on the second during his round of 67. He was T17 on 3-under 141.
PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar (69) of Chandigarh and Randhawa (72) were in tied 31st place at even-par 144.
All the professional and amateur golfers from J&K missed the cut.
The PGTI conducted a golf clinic for trainees from the J&K government’s golf academy at the venue on Thursday afternoon.
The school kids and club members who attended were given valuable tips by Joshi, Aman Raj and Ahlawat.
Also read: Udayan Mane fires a 65 to take first-round lead at J&K Open
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