Chennai, 21-08-2024

Rohan Dhole Patil rises into joint lead with a 66, Manu Gandas continues at the top

Bishmadpal Singh fires 64 to set new course record, climbs to tied fourth

Rohan Dhole Patil of Pune posted a six-under 66 to rise into the joint lead at nine-under 135 on day two of the INR 50 lakh Chennai Pro Championship 2024 being played at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course in Chennai. Gurugram’s Manu Gandas was the co-leader for the second straight day after he returned a 68.

Dhruv Sheoran, another Gurugram golfer, carded a bogey-free 67 to end the day in third place at eight-under 136.

Chandigarh’s Bishmadpal Singh, playing his first event this year, scorched the course with an eight-under 64 to set a new course record and end the day in tied fourth at seven-under 137 along with Nepal’s Subash Tamang (69).

The halfway cut came down at one-over 145. Fifty-five professionals made the cut.

Rohan Dhole Patil (69-66) was going all guns blazing on the opening day as he was seven-under through 12 holes but a quadruple-bogey on the fifth derailed his round. However, the 28-year-old searching for his maiden win, fought back in round two to rise nine spots from his overnight tied 10th.

Rohan began Wednesday with birdies on the first three holes where he came up with a couple of excellent chip-putts and drove the green on the Par-4 third. Between the sixth and the 14th Dhole Patil’s progress slowed down as he made three bogeys in exchange for two birdies missing a few opportunities on the greens.

Finally, Rohan’s second chip-in of the day that led to a birdie on the 15th saw him bounce back as he went on to add another birdie on the 16th and an eight-feet eagle conversion on the 18th.

Rohan said, “I feel my game has been trending in the right direction since the start of the season’s second half. I shot a few low rounds in Mysuru and Coimbatore having worked on all aspects of my game during the mid-season break.

“I had a good first round here in Chennai barring one bad hole. I knew I was playing well so I wanted to keep it going today. I chipped and putted really well today. In fact, I made two chip-ins, one for birdie and the other for par on the fifth. I also made a few good up and downs from the bunkers.”

Manu Gandas (67-68) began the day with a bogey on the first but rallied with five birdies thereafter that included a couple of conversions from 12 to 15 feet.

Manu said, “Like round one, I again missed a lot of fairways and greens today. But importantly, I hung in there and made some quality up and downs to keep myself in the contest.”

The 21-year-old Bishmadpal Singh (73-64), who narrowly missed his full card for the season at the Qualifying School held at the start of the year, improved upon the previous course record of 66 set by Rohan Dhole Patil earlier in the day. Rohan had in turn bettered the course record of 67 set by the leading trio of Manu Gandas, Yashas Chandra and Syed Saqib Ahmed in round one on Tuesday.

Bishmadpal, whose twin brother Brashwarpal is a regular on the PGTI, had also missed out on qualifying for this week through the Monday qualifying event. He finally played the event on a spot given by the PGTI. Bishmadpal made nine birdies and a bogey during his sensational effort. He sank a chip-in, drained four putts from a range of 15 to 30 feet and played some outstanding approach shots including one from 135 yards on the seventh that stopped one inch from the hole.

Bishmadpal, who jumped 53 spots from his overnight tied 57th, said, “I’m delighted with today’s round especially since I got an opportunity to play for the first time this season. I’ve been struggling from the tees but have been impressive around the greens. I would say I’ve had great luck since my mother has been caddying for me. She has been on the bag for me for the last 22 holes and I have made birdies on 11 of those holes and dropped just one bogey.”

Professional S Prasanth, placed tied 42nd at one-over 145, was the only Chennai-based player to make the cut.