Rashid, Chikka Tied-7th at Thailand Open golf
BANGKOK: Indian golfer Rashid Khan shot a steady two-under 68 in the second round to move into the Top-10 at the $300,000 Thailand Open here on Friday.
Rashid, a two-time winner on Asian Tour, had three birdies against one bogey as he was fiveunder 135 and five shots off the lead in Tied-7th place.
Meanwhile, S Chikkarangappa, who was T-2 after the first round, shot even par 70 to slip to T-7 alongside Rashid.
Chikka shot even par 70 with two bogeys on front nine, which were made up with two birdies on back nine.
Four other Indians, Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-71), Viraj Madappa (71-69), Rahil Gangjee (71-69) and Chiragh Kumar (69-71) made the cut at even par and were T-58th.
Khalin Joshi (72-76) and Himmat Rai (69-79) missed the cut.
Little known Sarit Suwannarut of Thailand emerged as the surprise package after grabbing the second round clubhouse lead. Playing in only his second Asian Tour tournament, the bighitting 20-year-old averaged 322.5 yards en-route a second straight five-under-par 65 as he leads the weather interrupted tournament on 10-under-par 130.
DISAPPOINTING START BY AJEETESH, KAPUR
ATZENBRUGG: It was a rough opening round for Indian golfers Ajeetesh Sandhu (77) and Shiv Kapur (79) at the inaugural Shot Clock Masters at Diamond Country Club near Vienna here on Friday.
Sandhu dropped four bogeys and a double bogey against a lone birdie, while Kapur had five bogeys, two double bogeys and a couple of birdies in his opening round.
The duo will need a very strong second round to stay on for weekend action.
Swede Oscar Lengden leads the way at the end of round one after he signed for a six-under par round of 66 on a day in which the fastest round came in at 55 minutes under the average time across the European Tour in 2018 for 18 holes in three balls.
The group of Nico Geyger, Henric Sturehed and Kristian Krogh Johannessen posted a round time of three hours and 53 minutes, compared with the 2018 season average of four hours and 48 minutes.
Five groups completed their rounds in under four hours, as the average for the day came in at four hours and 13 minutes, with no penalties imposed for bad times.
The 21-time European Tour winner Miguel Ángel Jiménez of Spain was one of those players who got around Diamond Country Club in less than four hours, on the way to a round of 67.
VANI PLACED TIED 22ND IN FINLAND
LAHTI: Indian golfer Vani Kapoor finished the first round tied at 22nd position with a score of three-over par 75 in the 40,000 euros Viaplay Ladies Finnish Open, part of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Access Series.
Vani on Thursday carded a birdie on the sixth hole against four bogeys on the first, seventh, 11th and 17th holes at the Messila Golf Club. She shared the 22nd spot with 12 others.
Laura Fuenfstuek of Germany was on top with a four-under 68 -- one stroke ahead of Sweden’s Emma Nilsson.
MICKELSON HAPPY WITH MIND CONTROL
NEW YORK: Phil Mickelson gave his focus a thumbs up after carding four-under-par 66 to trail first-round leader Seamus Power by one stroke at the Fedex St Jude Classic in Tennessee.
A week before trying to complete the career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, Mickelson became ragged off the tee late in his round but avoided any damage at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
“I finished the round off, even though I didn’t quite have it there at the end,” Mickelson told PGATOUR radio.
“I had a nice simple round going and then I missed the last four fairways. I was able to gather myself well and control my thoughts better.” Mickelson said after a first round 74 at last week’s Memorial that his focus had been lacking but he subsequently gathered himself to tie for 13th.