SSP Chawrasia continued in the lead in round two of the Rs. 1.5 crore TATA Steel Tour Championship 2021 after returning a three-under 69 that took his total to 12-under 132.
Twenty-one-year-old Karan Pratap Singh, playing only his second season as a professional, shot a blistering 65 to climb two spots to second position at 11-under 131.
Udayan Mane, the 2019 champion, moved into tied third at 10-under 134 following his round of 66. Defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar also shared third place courtesy his second round of 67.
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SSP Chawrasia (63-69), the first round leader by four shots, was quick off the blocks on Friday with birdies on the second, third and fourth. However, Chawrasia three-putted from 15 feet for a bogey against the run of play on the sixth. The two-time Indian Open champion then bounced back with some excellent wedge shots that resulted in birdies on the ninth, 11th and 13th.
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SSP then struggled over the final stretch after some erratic shots that led to a double-bogey on the 15th and a bogey on the 18th. He did manage a birdie on the 16th.
Chawrasia said, “I began well but missed a lot of putts today compared to yesterday that led to losing the momentum later in the round. I did make a good come back at the turn but the missed chance on the 15th was another disappointment.
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“One has to be careful in Beldih to not go over the table-top greens. Landing it a little short gives you a better chance. That’s what even I was doing.”
Karan Pratap Singh (68-65), who has two top-10s this season, had eight birdies and a bogey during his round. Karan landed it within six feet for four of his eight birdies. He also salvaged birdies with a couple of brilliant up and downs from the bunker on the 12th and 16th.
Karan said, “I was struggling with iron shots on the front-nine but the 10-minute warm-up time after playing at Golmuri and before teeing off at Beldih really helped me because I began with a birdie on the 10th at Beldih. That lifted my confidence as I collected four more birdies thereafter.
“I’m happy with the way I’m playing this week. I had not been consistent during the season having struggled with my ball-striking in the second half. But I’m now feeling comfortable with my swing for the past couple of weeks and I feel my hitting is getting better.”
Udayan Mane (68-66), currently third in the PGTI Order of Merit, mixed eight birdies with two bogeys during round two. Mane, who represented India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, had a chip-in on the seventh and was eight-under for the day through 13 holes. However, he bogeyed the 15th and 18th.
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Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-67) had a birdie-birdie-eagle start but then dropped four bogeys in exchange for five birdies as he ended up with a second straight 67.
Star attraction Shubhankar Sharma (67-71) slipped six spots to tied eighth at six-under 138 after posting a 71.
Sudhir Sharma fired a hole-in-one on the 10th during his round of 70. Sudhir too was in tied eighth.
M Dharma produced the day’s best score of eight-under 64 to be tied 16th at five-under 139.
Chikkarangappa (73), currently second in the PGTI Order of Merit, was tied 47th at one-over 145. Joining Chikka in a share of 47th place were Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa (74) and Jamshedpur-based professional Karan Taunk (74).
PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar (75) was tied 55th at two-over 146.
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Kurush Heerjee (77), the second player from Jamshedpur in this field, was tied 69th at seven-over 151
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