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Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2020 golf tournament: Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma takes halfway lead
After playing a four-over-76 in the first round, city’s Karandeep Kochhar bounced back with the day’s best score of 66
The winner of the Panchkula PGTI event last month, Chandigarh golfer Akshay Sharma played an under round, a four-under-68, in the tough conditions at the Chandigarh Golf Club to take the halfway lead at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2020 on Friday.
Sharma with his two-day tally of nine-under-135 has been placed at the top of the leaders’ board. Noida’s Amardeep Malik and Gurugram-based Veer Ahlawat played a card of four-under-68 each for the second day in succession to be placed at tied second.
Eighteen-year-old Delhi-based rookie golfer Harshjeet Singh Sethie struck a fine 67 to be placed fourth at seven-under-137. Pre-tournament favourite Anirban Lahiri moved up five places into tied fifth at six-under-138.
Sharma made five birdies and a bogey on his action-packed back nine and missed out on a hole-in-one by a foot on the 11th. He also made a good chip-putt for birdie on the 17th and followed that up with an exceptional approach on the 18th, which had a tight flag, to set up a birdie.
“Four-under is a great score considering that I started in the morning when the conditions are tougher due to a lower temperature. My target was to hit the first five greens and I succeeded in doing that playing two-under on the stretch in the process,” said Sharma, 30.
Anirban Lahiri (70-68), who is playing in India after a long gap, did well by picking up five birdies and a bogey. The highlight of his round was the massive 330-yard drive on the seventh hole where he pocketed a birdie.
After playing a four-over-76 in the first round, Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar bounced back with the day’s best score of 66. The effort placed him tied 18th at two-under-142. “In round one, I was nervous playing in the same group as Anirban for the first time. I was more at ease today. The goal was to shoot a six-under and get to a total of two-under,” said Kochhar, 19.
Among the other prominent names, Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) was tied 28th at even-par-144, SSP Chawrasia (74) was tied 38th at one-over-145 and Jyoti Randhawa (72) was tied 44th at two-over-146.
