Delhi-NCR Open: Amardeep posts 67, leads by two shots

Amardeep Malik cards a five-under 67 for a two-shot lead after two rounds of the ₹40 lakh Delhi-NCR Open.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Fifty one players made the cut.

Amardeep Malik, playing at his home venue, shot a five-under 67 for a two-shot lead (12-under 132) during the halfway stage of the ₹40 lakh Delhi-NCR Open here on Wednesday.

Mari Muthu R. shot the day’s lowest score of eight-under 64 to be placed tied second at 10-under 134 along with Manu Gandas (69). The cut went at one-over 145. Fifty-one professionals made the cut.

Noida-based Amardeep (65-67) began the day with a birdie on the first hole before adding three more birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth for a strong front-nine. He landed his approach within two feet on the ninth.

Turbulent start

The 36-year-old Amardeep, the overnight joint leader, had a turbulent start to the back-nine, stumbling with bogeys on the 11th and the 13th. He made a comeback with an eagle on the par-4 15th where he holed his second shot from the rough from a distance of 95 yards. He picked up another shot on the 16th with a 25-feet conversion to close the day with a two-shot lead. Muthu (70-64), who was tied-15th and five off the lead after round one, jumped 13 places to be joint second, thanks to his 64 that featured 10 birdies and two bogeys.

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Manu (65-69), a two-time winner on the PGTI, dropped out of the overnight joint lead with an eventful round that featured an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey. He landed his second shot within a couple of feet of the pin for eagle on the par-5 17th. He also chipped-in for birdie on the fourth.

Manu was five-under on the four par-5s for the second day in succession. Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha (69) occupies fourth place at nine-under 135 while Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (70) is a further shot back in fifth position.

Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72) of Chandigarh, currently ranked second on the PGTI Order of Merit, is tied-43rd at one-over 145.