Aman Raj keeps foot on pedal with a second straight 61, leads IGPL Jaipur by four shots

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 24 (ANI): Aman Raj, who has not won a pro event in 22 months, moved a step closer to ending that drought as he fired a sensational 9-under 61 for the second day running at the IGPL Invitational Jaipur. The second round 61 was even better as it was bogey free, as per a release from IGPL.

Aman Raj (61-61), who has finished in Top-10 in each of the first three events of the 2025 IGPL Tour, is now 18-under and four shots clear of Kartik Singh (63-63), who shot a second successive 7-under round to get to 14-under. Olympian Udayan Mane (65-62), who produced a bogey free 8-under second round after a first round 65 to rise to 13-under, needing a fast start to win in his first start on the IGPL. Mane is five behind leader Aman Raj and one behind Kartik Singh.

The final day will see young rookie Kartik make a bid for his maiden pro title as he goes out with two experienced stars, Aman Raj and Udayan Mane, both of whom have won pro titles at this very course in the past.

The leader, Aman Raj, a two-time winner in Jaipur, starting from the first tee, found his first birdie n he second and then added three in a row from the fifth to the seventh. Two pars later, he turned in 4-under for the day and 13-under for the week. The birdie spree continued as he added another on the 10th. Three pars may have suggested a lull in the proceedings, but he closed with a flourish as he birdied four times in the last five holes to get to 18-under.

Despite a great round of 61, Aman Raj, a two-time winner in Jaipur, looking to take a third Trophy from Pink City, said, "Honestly I started a little bit off but a chip in on the second helped. Then came the birdies on the fifth, sixth and the seventh. The putting touch came returned on the back nine and I holed a few to finish strong," as quoted from a release by IGPL.

Still keeping a watch on his body, which is recovering, Aman added, "I have to get some physiotherapy and make the body ready for tomorrow. I have been working on the recovery and will have the same mindset going into the final round."

Mane, who began from the second hole in the shotgun start, had a super run that included five birdies in a row from the sixth to the 10th. He had a sixth birdie on the 14th and then produced back-to-back gains on the 17th and the 18th before closing with a par on the first, which was his last hole of the day.

"The game is in good shape, and I love this course. Just need to get a fast start, as Aman is playing great. It will be a good contest," said Udayan, who won his pro title in Jaipur back in 2015.

Kartik Singh has been the find of the inaugural season of the IGPL. The 16-year-old who has had Top-10 finishes in the first three events in Chandigarh, Jaypee Greens and played alongside Aman Raj in the lead group.

Kartik had an eagle in Par-5 eighth, six other birdies and one solitary bogey on the Par-4 fifth hole. He started with a birdie on the first and then birdied the fourth before giving a shot back. A birdie and an eagle on the eighth and the ninth meant he was 4-under for the front nine. On the back nine Kartik just could not hole any putts for six holes from the 10th to the 15th. Then he made up with three in a row from the 16th to the 18th.

Shat Mishra, who shot 8-under on the first day, had a comparatively rough outing with an even par 70 on the second day. He did have five birdies, but also gave away one bogey and two double bogeys to finish even par. He is now Tied-10th.

Kapil Kumar, winner of the IGPL Pune carded 4-under 66 and is now 6-under and Tied-14th. Ridhima Dilawari, who went 1-over 71 on the first day, made up on the second with a 5-under 65 that had six birdies against one bogey. She is the leading woman pro in the field.

The next best woman pro is Sneha (70-68) in Tied-30th place at 2-under total. Behind her are Lavanya Jadon (68-71) and Khushi Khanijau (72-67) at 1-under total and in Tied-33rd place.

Rahul Ravi (69-67) is the leading amateur in Tied-21st place.

Sachin Baisoya (65-63) had a superb bogey free 63 and was sole fourth, while Chandigarh's Harendra Gupta (64-66) was Tied-fifth alongside Tushar Pannu (68-62). Pannu had a bogey free round with six birdies and an eagle on the 18th, which was his 12th hole as he started from the 12th.

Rookie pro Veer Ganapathy (66-65), Samarth Dwivedi (65-66) and M Dharma (66-65) were Tied-seventh at 9-under total for 36 holes. (ANI)

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