Kochhar slips to T-4th
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 18
Bengaluru’s Trishul Chinnappa and Sudhir Sharma from Noida climbed to the top at 9-under-135 with tournament-best scores of 7-under-65 along with Delhi’s Kapil Kumar with a 5-under-67 after round two of the Bengaluru Open Golf Championship, at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course.
Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar (69) and Rahil Gangjee (68) from Bengaluru slipped to tied-fourth, one shot off the pace. The cut was applied at two-over-146. Fifty-three professionals and two amateurs made the cut.
Chinnappa (70-65), currently 60th on the PGTI Order of Merit, shot a timely 65 peppered with nine birdies and two bogeys at his home course. The 26-year-old Chinnappa had a slow start with two bogeys and a birdie on his first five holes on the back-nine. But he scrambled well for the rest of his round as he got himself out of tough spots to salvage birdies on quite a few occasions. He made four consecutive birdies from the 15th through the 18th to come back strongly. Chinnappa, who has five top-20s on the PGTI this season, put together four more birdies on the front-nine including three on the trot from the third through the fifth. He made a great recovery from the bunker on the fifth.
“I managed to get out of trouble on quite a few occasions today. I can improve on the places that I’m putting myself in so that I don’t need to come up with heroic shots such as the approach over the water on the 16th. Playing in home conditions always helps as there are a lot of areas on this course where I’ve been before and where I’ve played from before. There is that familiarity,” said Chinnappa.
Sharma (70-65), also struggling this season as he is currently 54th in the PGTI Rankings, made good progress towards retaining his PGTI card with a bogey-free 65. The 32-year-old Sharma, who set a course record in Chandigarh this year, has had a patchy season with a top-10 and three other top-20s to show.
He was not in the best of hitting form in round two but putted extremely well as four of his seven birdies came as a result of conversions from 10 to 12 feet. He had a lucky break on the 13th where his erratic tee shot bounced on the edge of the bunker and rolled towards the hole. Sudhir too moved up 14 places in round two. “My inconsistent putting has affected my results this year. I’ve played well whenever the putter has been hot for me. When the putting hasn’t clicked there has been too much pressure on my hitting and I’ve not done well. Today, I found only eight fairways out of 14 and still shot a 65 that just proves how good my putting was.” Kumar (68-67), who was overnight tied fourth and one off the lead, jumped three spots with a second round of 67 that had a sprinkling of six birdies and a bogey. “I did well in all departments of my game today but my chipping troubles continued just like last week. The putting was particularly good. The switch from a thin grip to a thicker grip on my putter seems to be paying dividends.”
Round one joint leader Kochhar dropped three spots to tied fourth at 8-under-136 thanks to his mixed round that featured seven birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey. While Gangjee was also in joint fourth after an eventful day that saw him make six birdies and a double-bogey. He fought back well with four birdies on the back-nine. M Dharma finished seventh at 6-under-138 and 18-year-old amateur Akshay Neranjan, playing only his second professional event, was on tied-eighth at 4-under-140.
