Kapur placed tied-5th, Bhullar jumps to T-13
PATTAYA: Defending champion Shiv Kapur added a steady 2-under 68 to his first round 66 to be placed tied-fifth at the midway stage of the Royal Cup here.
Kapur started the day two shots behind the leader, but now finds himself six behind as South Africa’s Justin Harding continued his blistering form by carding a second consecutive six-under-par 64.
Kapur was the best Indian in fifth while Gaganjeet Bhullar bounced back from an indifferent first round with a super 65 in the second and was now T-13 at 4-under.
Honey Baisoya (67-70) is T-21st, Khalin Joshi (70-69) and Viraj Madappa (70-69) are T-37th, Himmat Rai (68-72) is T-48 and S Chikkarangappa (72-70) and Rashid Khan (73-69) are T-62.
Jeev Milkha Singh (69-74) and Chiragh Kumar (75-68) await the finish of the second round to know their fate as they lie at 3-over and T-79, and the cut could either be 2-over or 3-over. At 5-over, Jyoti Randhawa (76-69) is sure to miss the cut.
The 32-year-old Justin Harding, who started the round oneshot off the lead, fired another six birdies to lead by three shots on a 12-under-par 128 total.
AMANDEEP WINS SECOND TITLE
HOSUR: Amandeep Drall held her nerves to finish with birdies in the last two holes to become only the second player this season to win more than once on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Amandeep completed her double at Clover Greens as she added the title this week to the one she won earlier in the eighth leg at the same venue.
Playing in the final group alongside Amandeep, Vani Kapoor shot a second successive 69 to finish second despite a closing birdie. Amandeep totalled 7-under 209, while Vani aggregated 5-under 211. Neha Tripathi, the leader after 36 holes, was tied for the third place.
JOSHI BANKS ON HOME COURSE TO LIFT TROPHY
BENGALURU: India’s rising star Khalin Joshi is determined to win his first Asian Tour title on home soil when he contends at the US$350,000 TAKE Solutions Masters next month.
Joshi has unfinished business in the event after being pipped to the title by a resilient Poom Saksansin of Thailand at the Karnataka Golf Association Golf Course last year.
“I was born and brought up on the golf course. I’ve been playing golf at that course since I was four years old. I have a lot of good memories from the past. I will go out there and try to put myself in contention. There’s more pressure playing at home because people have more expectations from you,” said the Indian.