Pune: Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar and Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi continued as co-leaders for the second day in succession at The Poona Club Open, an INR 1 crore event, being played at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune.
Kochhar (64-66) and Kaul (64-66), the round one joint leaders by one shot, continued in the lead at the halfway stage with totals of 12-under 130 after they carded scores of five-under 66 in round two.
TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat and Samarth Dwivedi too returned rounds of 66 to be tied third at eight-under 134.
The cut came down at even-par 142. Fifty-eight professionals made the cut.
Karandeep Kochhar, a 10th tee starter, couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day as he holed his chip from 35 yards for eagle on the Par-4 10th. A couple of good iron shots and two long conversions then earned him birdies on the 13th and 16th.
The bogeys on the 18th and the second holes did not derail his round as Karandeep rallied with a great recovery shot over the trees to claim an eagle on the seventh. Kochhar followed that up with a 15-feet birdie conversion on the eighth.
Karandeep said, “Consistency was the key for me today. I stuck to my game-plan of hitting the driver everywhere. I had a great start with the eagle that really got the momentum going for me. The highlight of the round was the approach shot on the seventh that led to an eagle. I played to my game-plan by being aggressive there. Kudos to my caddie who guided me well on that shot.
“As this is my seventh tournament in as many weeks, my back is hurting a bit. So, it’s important for me to get some physiotherapy and focus on rest and recovery.”
Kshitij Naveed Kaul drove the Par-4 14th green for the second consecutive day to pick up a birdie there. He added another birdie thereafter but stumbled with a couple of bogeys on the 17th and third. Kaul’s purple patch began with his outstanding bunker shot on the fifth that led to a tap-in birdie.
Kshitij, who won his maiden professional title at the Poona Club Golf Course back in 2019 and has also won amateur, junior and sub-junior events at the same venue, went on to bag an eagle with a 12-feet conversion on the Par-5 seventh. He signed off with a flourish by following up the eagle with birdies from short range on the eighth and ninth.
Kshitij said, “I just feel I’m beginning to find my rhythm now after a couple of decent finishes in the last two events. I’ve been striking it really well and closing the day with eagle-birdie-birdie was quite a confidence-booster. I’ve always played well at this course and that will be an added advantage going ahead.”
Shivendra Singh Sisodia posted the day’s best score of 64 to jump 35 spots to tied fifth at seven-under 135. The three other golfers bunched in tied fifth were last year’s TATA Steel PGTI Ranking champion Om Prakash Chouhan (67), Shaurya Bhattacharya (67) and Aryan Roopa Anand (67).
Pranav Mardikar (68) was the best-placed among the Pune-based professionals as he occupied tied 14th position at five-under 137.
Local favourite Udayan Mane struck a 67 to be placed tied 22nd at three-under 139.
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