New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra held a one-shot halfway lead at the DP World India Championship, with six Indians making the cut as the weather-hit second round concluded at the Delhi Golf Club here on Saturday.
India’s Om Prakash Chouhan, Yuvraj Sandhu, Anirban Lahiri, Shiv Kapur, Karandeep Kochhar and Saptak Talwar ensured their places in the final two rounds of the USD 4 million event.
Chacarra, who has one win and two other top-five finishes in four appearances in India, followed his opening 67 with another three-under 67 to reach 10-under-par 134.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson also shot 67 to move to nine-under 135, while five players shared third place at eight-under 136 in a tightly packed leaderboard.
Chouhan (68-72) remained the best-placed Indian at four-under 140 in tied 29th, recovering from an early double bogey when he resumed his second round on Saturday morning after the weather-related delays.
“I felt good. My focus was on my own game and trying to finish as well as possible. My driving has been the strongest part of my game so far. I missed only two fairways yesterday,” Chouhan said.
The standout Indian performance came from Sandhu (75-68), who produced a remarkable rally to finish at one-under 143 in tied 53rd place.
Three-over for the tournament after his opening seven holes, Sandhu caught fire over the closing stretch, making seven birdies in his last 10 holes, including four in the final five, to salvage a round of 68.
“I’ve only just finished the round, and I’m still trying to understand how I pulled it off. There’s been a lot of support and blessings from home and my team, and a lot of hard work behind it,” Sandhu said.
Lahiri (70-73), whose last worldwide victory came at this very course in the 2015 Indian Open, had completed his second round on Friday and was also at one-under. Both were tied 53rd.
The other Indians to advance were Kapur (72-72), Kochhar (72-72) and Talwar (71-73).
All three finished at even-par 144 in tied 63rd place, exactly on the cut line.
Kapur had closed with a birdie on Friday, while Talwar had to negotiate a tense finish after dropping a shot on the 18th hole.
Of the seven Major champions in the field, five made the weekend. Apart from Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who was tied 12th at six-under 138, the qualifiers were Ireland’s Shane Lowry (75-65), tied 29th at four-under; Aaron Rai (69-74), tied 53rd at one-under; and Justin Rose (72-72) and Patrick Reed (75-69), both at even-par in tied 63rd.
Danny Willett withdrew due to illness, while Open champion Ryan Fox (76-70) missed the cut.
Several prominent Indian names also failed to qualify, including Sachin Baisoya (74-71), Rashid Khan (77-69), Veer Ahlawat (74-72), Shubhankar Sharma (76-72), Ajeetesh Sandhu (74-78), Kartik Singh (76-76) and Shaurya Bhattacharya (78-74).
While Chacarra held the advantage, the chasing group was well within striking distance. Spain’s Angel Hidalgo (68-68), Poland’s Adrian Meronk (67-69), Dutchman Joost Luiten (68-68), Belgium’s Thomas Detry (67-69) and Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach (70-66) were all at eight-under 136, two shots off the lead.
McIlroy, one of the main attractions in the star-studded field, followed his opening 70 with a 68 to remain four shots behind Chacarra.
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood (70-69) was also at five-under 139, tied 22nd, keeping himself in contention as he looks to retain the title he won in the championship’s inaugural edition.
England’s Laurie Canter produced the round of the championship so far, firing a seven-under 63 to climb to five-under 139 in tied 22nd place.
After opening with a six-over 76, Canter improved by an extraordinary 13 shots, transforming his position with the lowest round of the tournament. PTI COR APA
APA
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