Hua Hin, Thailand, 14-01-2016
Chikkarangappa storms to second place with blistering 64 in round two, six Indians make halfway cut
Chikkarangappa S stormed into second place with a blistering seven-under-64 in round two of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage 2016. Chikka’s two-round total of 11-under-131 placed him one shot behind leader Kevin McLister of the United States. Shubhankar Sharma was the next best Indian in tied 11th at five-under-137.
Chikka, the 2015 Rolex Ranking champion, put himself in contention at the Qualifying School for the second straight year when he carded a flawless 64 thanks to one eagle and five birdies at the Imperial Lakeview Golf Club to take second place. The Bangalorean, a two-time winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), is determined to turn his game around in the new season as he edged closer to regaining his Asian Tour card.
The 22-year-old Indian got off to a blast with an eagle-birdie on second and third before making birdies on sixth and ninth to turn in with a splendid 30. He added two more birdies on 13 and 15 on his way home.
“I put myself in the same position as how I did last year. I just want to play the same for the next two rounds and try to build on my good form. I am feeling confident and comfortable with my game so looking forward to the next two rounds,” said Chikkarangappa, who finished 73rd on the 2015 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Shubhankar Sharma was tied 11th at five-under-137 after a second round of 69.
Honey Baisoya, Amardip Sinh Malik and Rahul Bajaj were tied 65th at one-under-141.
Manu Gandas, lying tied 83rd at even-par-142, was the sixth Indian to make the halfway cut of one-over-143.
A total of 110 players from the top-100 and ties after the second round successfully progressed to the final two rounds which will be played only at Springfield Royal. The top-40 and ties will earn an Asian Tour card for the 2016 season after the final round.
Among the Indians who missed the cut were, Udayan Mane (144), Ashok Kumar (144), Vikrant Chopra (144), Khalin Joshi (144), Shankar Das (145), Digvijay Singh (145), Samarth Dwivedi (146), Gaurav Pratap Singh (146), Aman Raj (146), Feroz Ali Mollah (151), Feroz Singh Garewal (152) and Naman Dawar (153).
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