Indians dominate the day, Saksansin steals honours
It seemed like the Thai, Poom Saksansin, is in love with the Karnataka Golf Association Course as he is with dosa and chicken tikka, a dish which he admits he can eat until weeks till he is bored! In an almost repeat of his first-round heroics, the 24-year-old added a 4-under 67 to his overnight 64 to march into the money-making rounds armed with a four-shot lead in the $300,000 Take Solutions Masters.
Barring the visitor, the leaderboard was dominated by the Indians (seven in the top-10 and 21 in the top 31), led by local heroes.
Khalin Joshi was in the sole second position after signing a 4-under par card, while Rahil Gangjee, who shot the day’s best of 5-under 66, Viraj Madappa, and S Chikkarangappa were tied for the third position along with Sujjan Singh and Indonesian Rory Hie, all carding an identical score of 6-under 136. Syed Saqib Ahmed and Divyanshu Bajaj were tied for the eighth place along with Malaysian Danny Chia. Notable names who missed the cut, applied at 3-over 145, were Malaysian Gavin Green, Jeev Milkha Singh, Rashid Khan and C Muniyappa.
Saksansin began his second round from where he had left off. Although he found the KGA a little short in terms of the yardage, it worked as an advantage in disguise as he was left with shorter irons to work, giving him ample birdie opportunities.
Making three birdies in the first four holes of his return journey, Saksansin was set for a high score. However, the headwinds tied him down and he was content not to lose a shot. The first and only bogey in his 36-holes came on the par-4 17th, where he misread the line from short distance. However, he promptly resurrected it with a closing birdie, which he almost holed for an eagle. “It was difficult to control the ball under the weather conditions,” said the leader who will play with his friend-turned-city guide Khalin.
Homegrown boy Khalin who incidentally won his last title as an amateur at this course, hit as many as 17 greens in regulation but failed to convert into birdies as much as he wanted to. With two birdies and as many bogeys in his first half, the 25-year-old turned the heat on his return journey. With successive birdies on the first two holes and a similar feat one hole later, Khalin was in the reckoning. Although he missed a few birdie chances from close, he ensured that there was no further dent in his scorecard.