Panchkula, Haryana, 04-02-2015
Shubhankar Sharma dominates round two at Panchkula
Shubhankar Sharma of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, took a massive five-shot lead in round two of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Panchkula Golf Club. Shubhankar followed up his first round of three-under-66 with a brilliant five-under-64 in the second round to take his total to eight-under-130. Angad Cheema of Panchkula was placed second at three-under-135 along with Noida's Amardip Sinh Malik.
The second round was completed on Thursday morning and the cut was declared at eight-over-146. Sixty professionals made the cut. The third round began at 10:15 am on Thursday. The par for the course is back to the original 72 for the last two rounds. It had been reduced to 69 for the first two rounds as a result of the heavy rain on Tuesday.
Shubhankar Sharma was three-under through 16 holes in round one when play was suspended due to fading light on Tuesday evening. Sharma began the tournament in style as he made an eagle-two on the par-4 11th thanks to an outstanding tee shot that stopped two feet from the pin. He added two more birdies and a bogey to his card in round one to be joint first round leader along with Mukesh Kumar at three-under-66. Shubhankar was once again in sublime form in round two on Wednesday as he produced an amazing eight birdies against three bogeys. He sank two birdie putts from a range of 12 to 20 feet and landed it within a foot on two occasions to set up birdies.
“I started the week on a positive note with an eagle on the 11th, my second hole of the tournament, where I narrowly missed a hole-in-one. I did well in round one despite the tough conditions thanks to my excellent hitting. I went one better in round two as I managed to capitalize in the relatively easier course conditions on Wednesday. The wind had died down, the sun was out and it wasn’t even as cold today. The pins were also more accessible in round two,” said Shubhankar, whose been nursing a minor injury on his right wrist for the last few days.
He added, “It’s important to begin the year with a good performance here at the season-opener. I’ve done well so far with two low scores. I feel I can carry forward the good form from last year. The course is playing very different from when I played here last in 2013. I therefore had to make the necessary adjustments.”
Angad Cheema followed up his first round one-over-70 with a four-under-65 in round two to end the day in second place at three-under-135. Cheema, who recently earned his maiden Asian Tour card, came up with eight birdies, a bogey and a triple-bogey in the second round at his home course.
Amardip Sinh Malik carded a three-under-66 in round two to share second place with Cheema at 135.
Round one joint leader Mukesh Kumar of Mhow returned a one-over-70 in round two to slip into tied fourth place at two-under-136 along with Delhi’s Shamim Khan and Sri Lankan N Thangaraja.
Round 2 leaderboard:
130: Shubhankar Sharma
135: Angad Cheema, Amardip Sinh Malik
136: Shamim Khan, N Thangaraja, Mukesh Kumar
About PGTI:
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Kapil Dev (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
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