Saini leads by 5 shots at Karnal
Kapurthala golfer Ashbeer Saini fired a three- under- 67 in round two of the PGTI Feeder Tour event at the Madhuban Meadows Golf Club in Karnal, Haryana, to extend his lead to five shots as his total read 10- under- 130 on Thursday.
Noida’s Dipankar Kaushal shot the day’s best of sevenunder63 to move up from tied 16th to second place at fiveunder135.
Saini ( 63- 67), the overnight leader by four shots, began the second day with two birdies on the first three holes including a chip- in on the third.
The 24- year- old dropped a stroke on the fifth but soon came back with three chip- putt birdies on the sixth, ninth and 10th. Ashbeer conceded his second bogey of the day on the 14th to end up with a solid 67.
Saini said, “It was a mixed round if I compare it to round one. I made quite a few chipputts but missed some close putts as well. I also had some terrific par saves today.
“I have a comfortable lead at the moment but I’ll look to play my own game in the final round rather than thinking too much about the scores. The process of getting back to my best is as important to me as the result.”
Kaushal’s ( 72- 63) excellent tee shots and driving saw him come into contention as he mixed eight birdies with a bogey on Thursday. He found the edge of the green with his drives on as many as four occasions. Lucknow’s Amardeep Rawat made two eagles during his round of 66 that lifted him from tied eighth to third at four- under- 136.
Karnal’s Maniram occupied tied 30th place at six- over- 146.
The cut was declared at sevenover147. Thirty- six golfers made it to the last round.