Chandigarh golfer Karandeep Kochhar played a card of four-under-68 to finish at the first position after the second round of the ongoing TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2020 presented by Chandigarh Golf Club on Tuesday.
Kochhar, playing on his home course, climbed one spot from his overnight tied second, taking his tally to 10-under-134.
Overnight leader Adil Bedi played one-over-73 to a tied eighth position at six-under-138.
Delhi-based Arjun Prasad carded the day’s joint lowest score of 67 to move up 10 spots to joint second at eight-under-136. Mysuru’s Yashas Chandra struck a 68 to also be tied second, he made a gain of four spots. Both Arjun and Yashas played their second rounds at the Panchkula Golf Club.
Each half of the field has so far played a round each at the Chandigarh Golf Club and the Panchkula Golf Club. The action (third and fourth round) now shifts to Chandigarh.
The halfway cut came down to two-over-146 as 53 professionals made it to the money rounds.
Twenty-one-year-old Karandeep Kochhar (66-68), the runner-up in Panchkula last week, continued his consistency in the tricity swing with another solid effort where he picked up five birdies in exchange for a lone bogey.
{{/usCountry}}Twenty-one-year-old Karandeep Kochhar (66-68), the runner-up in Panchkula last week, continued his consistency in the tricity swing with another solid effort where he picked up five birdies in exchange for a lone bogey.
{{/usCountry}}Kochhar, whose only win on the PGTI came in 2016 while he was still an amateur, got his round going with a birdie on the second where his good chip left him an easy tap-in. He collected another birdie on the third and made a couple of great par saves on the ninth and 10th.
An accurate approach shot on the 12th earned Kochhar his third birdie. He also drove well to pick up birdies on the 13th and 16th, both par-5s. The tall and lanky golfer’s first bogey of the week came on the 16th.
“I’ve been quite consistent since last week so I’m happy about that. I dropped my first bogey today in three rounds (including the last round from last week’s event) and that gives me a lot of confidence going forward. Overall, a good round despite missing out on birdie chances on the last two holes, especially the lip out on the 18th. I’ll have the comfort of playing in my home conditions in Chandigarh on the last two days, so look forward to making the most of it,” said Kochhar.
Arjun Prasad (69-67), another 21-year-old, produced a top-notch 67 featuring six birdies and a bogey. Prasad’s round was highlighted by two birdie conversions from a range of 15 to 20 feet as well as his bunker shot on the 11th and tee shot on the par-3 13th that set up four-footers for birdie.
“It’ll be fun to play alongside Karandeep in the leader group tomorrow. We’ve both grown up playing a lot of golf together but it’s been a while since we played our last round together. So look forward to it,” said Prasad.
Yashas Chandra (68-68) posted a second straight 68 to share second place with Arjun. Yashas’ round included seven birdies, a bogey, and a double-bogey.
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (68), the winner on the PGTI last week, was in a four-way tie for fourth at seven-under-137 along with Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (71), who slipped two spots from his overnight tied second, Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh (67) and Kolkata’s Shankar Das (69).
Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, Patna’s Aman Raj, Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa, and Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi were all bunched in tied 21st at two-under-142.