Lucknow, 10-10-2013

Lucknow golfers continue domination in round two

Sanjay Kumar holds on to lead, Vijay Kumar placed second

Lucknow golfers continued their domination in round two of the PGTI Feeder Tour event being played at the Lucknow Golf Club. At the end of round two the top four golfers on the leaderboard were from Lucknow. While Sanjay Kumar held on to his lead with a sublime five-under-65 on day two, Vijay Kumar posted a solid four-under-66 to be placed two strokes behind the leader in second position.

Sanjay Kumar (66-65), the overnight leader, shot the day’s best score to open up a two-shot lead at nine-under-131. The defending champion was in good hitting form as he landed it within six feet on four occasions for birdies on the second, seventh, ninth and 14^th. Sanjay also sank two 12-footers for birdies on the third and 18^th. The only blemish on his card was the bogey on the 15^th where he missed a three-foot putt.

Sanjay said, “I hit it really close today. The hot of the day was the approach from 110 yards on the ninth that hit the flag and dropped inches from the hole. The weather was good today and that helped me play better than round one. I’m in a good position at this stage and would look to use the local knowledge to my advantage in the final round.”

Vijay Kumar (67-66) ended day two with a total of seven-under-133. He made bogey on the first but soon recovered with a couple of good chip-putts for birdies on the third and seventh. The 45-year-old seasoned campaigner sank an 18-footer for birdie on the 14^th. Vijay collected another birdie on the 16^th before chipping-in to pick up his last birdie of the day on the 18^th.

“My chipping was excellent today even though my putting wasn’t that great. I posted a better score as compared to round one as I hit more greens today. I was struggling to find the greens in the early stages of round one but that wasn’t the case in the second round,” said Vijay, a former Indian Open champion.

The two Lucknow golfers who occupy third and fourth place are Rajesh Kumar Rawat (four-under-136) and Sanjeev Kumar (three-under-137) respectively.

Jalandhar’s Balwinder Singh Mattu is a further stroke behind in fifth place.

Balbir Singh Verma of Delhi made a hole-in-one on the fourth hole. His second round score of 68 moved his total to three-over-143 and placed him tied 17^th. 

The cut was declared at nine-over-149. Thirty-eight professionals made the cut.