Hero Indian Open 2024, Day 2: Veer Ahlawat stays in the hunt; Nakajima opens two-shot lead; Kofstad sets course record

Veer Ahlawat closes in on leader at Hero Indian Open with impressive play, as Nakajima maintains lead.

Veer Ahlawat proved the best performing Indian on the second day of the $2.25 million Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club at Gurugram on Friday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Veer Ahlawat, one of the longest hitters on the domestic tour and often leads the ‘éagle-count’ for the season, moved within five strokes of the leader on the second day of the $2.25 million Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club here.

The day produced a course record of 10-under 62 from Norway’s Espen Kofstad - after a highly forgettable 81 on the first day - that erased the previous best of 64 by Shubhankar Sharma in the 2018 edition of this premier event and by Arjun Puri in the Kapil Dev-Grand Thornton Invitational in 2022.

When play was suspended due to lightning, 46 golfers – including Shubhankar and Anirban Lahiri – were on course. The incomplete second round also meant that the projected ‘cut’ at 144 could not be applied.

For the record, Japanese Keita Nakajima extended his stay at the top following a successive seven-under 65 for a two-round tally of 130. He led Frenchman Romain Langasque by two shots and moved three strokes ahead of fellow overnight leader, Italian Matteo Manassero.

READ | Hero Indian Open 2024: Indians trail as Day One produces three leaders - Luiten, Nakajima and Manassero

Ahlawat started from the 10th hole and found pars on the first seven holes. This was followed by three successive birdies before he erred in judgement, and dropped a shot on the second hole of the course.

He responded with an ‘eagle’ on the fourth after his superb approach shot left him 10 feet from the pin. He collected two more birdies to improve his card from a first-day 69 to come up with a 66.

Nakajima’s measured putting earned him five birdies in a row on the front nine, and placed him way ahead of the pack at -12. He added back-to-back birdies after taking the turn to move to -14 with seven holes to play. After two pars, the Japanese encountered unforeseen trouble with his putting as he bogeyed thrice in succession to slip to -11 with two holes to go.

Again, on the testing 17th, Nakajima produced a stunning drive, a well-calculated shot from the fairway and birdied to get back the confidence. But his best came on the final hole. On the par-5, Nakajima reached the green on two and drained an ‘eagle-putt’ from about 20 feet to finish at -14.