Yashas Chandra fired an eight-under 64, the week’s best score so far, to move into the joint lead at the halfway stage along with Veer Ahlawat and Angad Cheema, both of whom returned scores of 67.
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The leading trio of Yashas (71-64), Veer (68-67) and Angad (68-67) had totals of nine-under 135 after round two of the INR 1 crore Nissan presents Delhi-NCR Open 2024 being played at the Noida Golf Course.
Manu Gandas (69) was in fourth position at seven-under 137 while overnight leader Rashid Khan (72) was a further shot back in fifth place.
Defending champion Gaurav Pratap Singh was tied 14th at three-under 141.
The cut was declared at two-over 146. Fifty professionals made the cut.
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Yashas put together an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys in his round of 64 to climb 22 spots from his overnight tied 23rd. Yashas was on fire on the par-5s as he made an eagle and three birdies on the four par-5 holes. He sank a 25-footer for eagle on the eighth. The 29-year-old made a couple of more birdies from a range of 12 to 15 feet.
Yashas said, “I putted really well and didn’t make too many mistakes on the back-nine like I did in round one. I also hit most fairways so that was key to my good scoring on the par-5s. I finished really strong with birdie-eagle-birdie on the last three holes. That does a lot for my confidence going ahead.”
TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader and 2024 Indian Open runner-up Ahlawat continued his good form as he scored eight birdies and three bogeys to rise one spot to joint first.
He said, “I’ve been hitting it well since the Indian Open and the game feels solid. My good driving means I give myself short wedges to the green and that helps create more birdie chances for me.”
Angad, the runner-up at last week’s Chandigarh Open, made six birdies and a bogey on Thursday to also move up one spot and take a share of the lead.
Angad said, “I played better in round one, but my back-nine was really good today. The birdie on the 12th was crucial because it got things started on the back-nine. The chip-in birdie on the 13th helped me gain further momentum. I shot good numbers last week too. So I want to continue doing the same thing this week.”
