Manu sole leader, Mane misses cut
Manu Gandas burnt the course with a sizzling 10under 58 to build a substantial five-shot lead at
17-under 122 in the second round of the Golconda Masters Telangana Open at the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) course on Friday.
Amardeep Malik of Noida was in second place at a total of 12under 127 following his second round of sevenunder 61.
Rookie Kartik Sharma, playing his first event at the HGA since turning professional, produced an enthralling error-free nine-under 59 to be placed tied third at a total of 10under 129 along with Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu who shot a six-under 62.
The heavy overnight rain resulted in waterlogging on a couple of fairways at the HGA. As a result, Hole No. 6 was reduced from a Par-5 to a
Par-3 and Hole No. 18 was reduced from a Par-4 to a
Par-3. Therefore, the par for the course in round two was 68 instead of the regular 71.
The cut was declared at even-par 139. Fifty professionals and two amateurs made the cut.
Olympian and defending champion Udayan Mane missed the cut as he tallied three-over 142 for two rounds to be placed tied 68th.
Gurugram’s Gandas (6458), the joint leader in round one, mixed five birdies with two bogeys on the front-nine which saw him make two long conversions from 20 to 30 feet.
Gandas, still looking for his maiden title, was on fire on the back-nine
draining seven birdies which included some exceptional chip-putts, a great recovery from the bunker on the 17th and a
25-feet conversion on the
18th. The 25-year-old Manu closed the day in style making birdies on his last five holes.
PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was in seventh place at eight-under 131.
Hyderabad-based professional Mohd Azhar was the highest-placed local golfer in tied 17th at five-under 134.
The two amateur golfers from Hyderabad who made the cut were Milind Soni (tied 35th at twounder 137) and Tej Gangavarapu (tied 45th at even-par 139) were wellplaced at tied 20th and tied 28th respectively.