Panchkula, Oct 18 (PTI) Ludhiana-based Pukhraj Singh Gill produced the second day’s best score of nine-under 63 to storm into the halfway lead at a total of 12-under 132 at the Haryana Open here on Friday.
Pukhraj’s (69-63) flawless second round helped him jump 16 spots from his overnight tied 17th position at the Panchkula Golf Club (PGC).
Teenage rookie Anshul Kabthiyal (65-68) of Delhi posted a 68 that pushed him up one spot to second place at 11-under 133.
Five players were bunched in tied third place at 10-under 134 including the Chandigarh duo of Angad Cheema (65) and Akshay Sharma (66) as well as round one leader Rahil Gangjee (71), Aryan Roopa Anand (65) and Kshitij Naveed Kaul (69).
The halfway cut came down at one-under 143. Fifty-two professionals made it to the weekend rounds.
The 28-year-old Gill scored three birdies on the front-nine of which one came as a result of a monster drive on the third and another came after a massive 35-feet putt conversion on the fourth.
Gill, a professional since 2018 and searching for his first title, then had a field day on the back-nine. He drove the par-4 11th green to set up a birdie there.
He added five more birdies to his card including a tap-in on the par-3 13th and a chip-in on the closing 18th.
Nineteen-year-old rookie Anshul Kabthiyal ended day two one shot behind the leader thanks to his 68 that featured six birdies and two bogeys.
Reigning champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu (73) of Chandigarh closed the day in tied 16th place at six-under 138. PTI AH AH AT AT
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