NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Ace golfer Shankar Das spearheaded the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Rs 1 crore BILT Open golf championship after carding a flawless back-nine, dotted with four birdies at the iconic Delhi Golf Course here today.
The Kolkata lad shot the day’s best (six-under 66) after finding birdies on all four par-5s. Later, Deepinder Singh Khullar came close to matching Shankar’s two-round tally of 135 until he bogeyed the final hole to finish at 136.
Joint-overnight leader Anura Rohana of Sri Lanka, who led till Shankar came up with a birdie-birdie finish, was third at 137, one better than S Chikkarangappa. The ‘cut’ came at 148 leaving 51 professionals and two amateurs in the fray.
Starting from the 10th tee, Shankar fired three birdies on the inward nine thanks mainly to his superb iron-play. His lone bogey, on the 16th where he three-putted from the right edge of the green, spurred him to an improved showing. After taking the turn at two-under for the day, he birdied the first hole where he two-putted from about 20 feet.
On the 5th hole, a firm 7-iron left him with an eight-foot birdie-putt. On the eighth and ninth holes, Shankar’s 3-wood set up comfortable birdies. Deepinder shot six birdies and two bogeys for a second successive 68.
Deepinder’s second of the two bogeys (18th hole) proved costly. His tee-shot landed in the cart-park from where he needed a ‘penalty drop’. He kept the damage limited to a bogey but that denied him a share of the lead. Delhi golfers Rashid Khan and Chiragh Kumar continue to be in contention as they occupy tied third place at eight-under-208.
While defending champion Rashid shot a 68 on day three, Chiragh, a former BILT Open champion, carded a 69. Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa and Sanjay Kumar of Lucknow are in tied fifth at seven-under-209. (UNI)
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