Winner of the opening two events of the season, Yuvraj Sandhu of Chandigarh moved into pole position on day two of the Adani Invitational at Jaypee Greens on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Yuvraj Sandhu and Arjun Prasad topped the leaderboard after round two of the Rs 1.5 crore Adani Invitational at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida on Wednesday.
Both totalled 7 under par 137, Chandigarh’s Sandhu adding a 5 under 67 to his first round 70 while Prasad had a 3 under 69 to go with his opening 68, the PGTI said.
While Sandhu, a two-time winner on the PGTI this season, rose nine places from overnight tied 10th, Delhi’s Prasad climbed two spots from his overnight tied third placing.
Chandigarh golfer Harendra Gupta shot the day’s best 6 under 66 to share third place on 6 under 138 with Honey Baisoya of Delhi who racked up two eagles during his round of 68.
First round joint leader Saptak Talwar (72) was the best-placed local professional in tied fifth on 5 under 139.
The cut came at 3 over 147 with 60 professionals and one amateur – Sukhman Singh (75-71) of Noida – making the final 36 holes.
Sandhu came out all guns blazing on the day with seven birdies on the first 10 holes where he hit his irons and wedges to perfection.
On target
Over this stretch, the 28-year-old narrowly missed a hole-in-one on hole 3, chipped-in on 10 and produced some exceptional chips and a pinpoint bunker shot for easy birdie conversions.
“This is my fourth straight week of competition so there was a little shoulder pain at the start of this event,” Sandhu said. ”But, the physio here at the tournament, Ravinder Sir helped me get rid of the pain. A big thanks to him.
“As there was no wind in the morning, I pressed the pedal to take advantage of the conditions. Once the wind started swirling in the afternoon, I lost a shot or two in that transition.
“I’m playing at Jaypee after a long time, in fact this is my first professional event at this venue as I last played here as an amateur. But the course is quite challenging now and has its own teeth.”
Persevering Delhi golfer Arjun Prasad rose from his overnight shared third place into the joint lead in Greater Noida on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
Prasad, 26 and still searching for his maiden victory, made four birdies and a bogey in round two. Three of the birdies came on the par-5s as a result of two outstanding up and downs and a great bunker shot.
“I’ve had a decent start to the season thanks to all the work that I’ve put in with my coach and my team,” Prasad said.
“I’ve had two solid days so far and am now looking forward to playing in the leader group with my good friend Yuvraj for the second time this season.”
Overnight leader N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka slipped into a tie for seventh place with O.P. Chauhan (68-73) and Shaurya Bhattacharya (70-71) with a second round 74 after opening with a 67.
Also read: Thangaraja, Talwar lead in round one of Adani Invitational
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