05-02-2016
Chawrasia shoots second straight 66, shares halfway lead at Myanmar Open
Rashid Khan is tied third and Arjun Atwal in tied eighth
India’s SSP Chawrasia returned a second straight six-under-66 to grab a share of the second round lead with South Africa’s Shaun Norris at the US$750,000 Leopalace21 Myanmar Open on Friday.
Chawrasia, who also opened with a 66, kept the bogeys off his card again by signing for a two-day total of 12-under-132 at the event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).
Rashid Khan was the other Indian in the top-3. Rashid followed up his first round of 67 with a 66 on Friday to be one off the lead at 11-under-133.
Starting the day tied for third, Chawrasia ran out in 32 after birdies on 12, 13, 14 and 18.
The three-time Asian Tour winner continued to show his slick putting touches on the greens with another two birdies on holes three and five as he made his way to the top of the leaderboard.
“I needed 29 putts in first round and it was 25 in second. In fact I putted really well on my first nine, which was the back stretch of the course and I needed only 11 putts with seven one-putts.
“Two of the longer putts were on 13th from 20 feet and from around 15-16 feet on third, both for birdies. All in all, a good two days and I don’t want to tamper with anything and just keep this momentum going,” said Chawrasia.
Khan also stayed in the mix after regaining his driving accuracy which was missing in his game in Singapore last week.
“I was struggling with my driver last week but I managed to hit the ball straight this week and if I can continue doing so, I'll be there,” said Khan.
The lanky Indian started well with three birdies in his opening six holes. He hit a dry patch from the seventh hole but managed to cruise home comfortably with another three birdies in his last five holes.
“I missed several putts from seven to 13 but I recovered well on 14 with a good up and down and managed to close with two birdies. Overall it was a good round as I've stayed bogey-free the last two days,” said Khan.
Arjun Atwal (68-67) was the third Indian in the top-10 as he totaled nine-under-135 at the halfway stage to be placed tied eighth.
Himmat Rai and Rahil Gangjee were both in tied 19th place at seven-under-137 while Shiv Kapur was a further shot back in tied 32nd.
The weekend cut was set at four-under with 66 players progressing to the final two rounds.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (two-under-142) and Chiragh Kumar (even-par-144) were the two Indians who missed the cut.
Source: Asian Tour
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