Karandeep in lead on Day 2

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, April 18 

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar and Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow shared the halfway lead at the inaugural Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship in Noida on Wednesday.  

While Chouhan shot a 3-under 69 in round two to move up two places from his overnight tied-third position, Kochhar carded an even-par 72 to gain one spot from his overnight second on an extremely windy day at the Noida Golf Course.

At the end of 36 holes, the two are tied for a total of 7-under 137.

Kolkata’s Shankar Das (70) occupied third place at 6-under 138, while Honey Baisoya (69) of Delhi was a further shot back in fourth position.

The cut was declared at 3-over 147. Fifty-nine professionals and one amateur made the cut.

Round one leader Naman Dawar of Delhi slipped to tied-10th place at 2-under 142 after a round of 78. A total of eight players, including Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh (71), shared the 10th spot. 

Amateur Simarjeet Singh (72), also occupying tied-10th, was the highest-placed among the Noida-based golfers. He was also the only amateur to make the cut.

Harendra Gupta slipped 10 places to tied-18th after a disappointing 74 on the second day of the play. 

Another city golfer, Abhijit Singh Chadha, meanwhile, jumped 65 places with a card of 3-under 69 to survive the cut. 

Delhi’s Manav Jaini fired the day’s best score of 4-under 68. He closed the day in tied-34th place at 2-over 146.

Om Prakash Chouhan (68-69) didn’t strike the ball as well as he did in round one but enjoyed a good day with the putter. His four birdies came as a result of conversions from 10 to 12 feet.

“I’ve been playing well since the Pune event last week. I recently made some changes to my swing and those weren’t working out so I went back to my old swing. That seems to have made the difference to my game. Scoring well in the tough conditions today added to my confidence,” Chouhan said after the day’s play.