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Bengaluru, June 12 (IANS)
Local golfer Khalin Joshi of TAKE Chennai lived up to the crowd's expectations when he returned with the best card of the day at seven-under 65 on day two of the fourth Louis Philippe Cup at the Karnataka Golf Association here on Friday.
Khalin's superb effort gave overnight leaders TAKE Chennai a five-shot lead with teammates S. Chikkarangappa and S.S.P. Chowrasia both shooting one-under 71 each for the two-day team total of 12-under 276. As per the format, the scores of the best two players are taken into consideration as the team total.
Defending champions Navratna Ahmedabad, who were tied fourth Thursday, bounced back with a six-under for a two-day total of seven-under 281.
Navratna Ahmedabad's Anura Rohana carded the best round of four-under 68 while teammates Mithun Perera and Shankar Das shot two-under 70 and level-par 72, respectively.
Abhijit Singh Chadha of Zion Hills Bengaluru brought the second best card of the day as he shot six-under 66 for his team who share third place with Laqshya Mumbai at six-under 282 after the second day.
Dev-Ellora Pune were fifth with a score of four-under 284. One shot behind were Jaypee Greens Greater Noida at 285 while the DLF The Crest Gurgaon, the team of youngest pros, finished at the bottom with 188.
Khalin, who finished second at the recently held Bangladesh Open on the Asian Tour, powered up the leaderboard with five birdies and a 10-foot eagle on fifth in a bogey-free round
The 23-year-old said: "I wish I could have holed two more easy putts on 13thAand 17thAfor birdies, but overall I am happy with my game.
"I also putted fairly better than yesterday. I feel I score even better if my putter is good, but I am not going to be greedy and will play my game patiently.
"Flag positions were really tough today and wind picked up after we reached the fifth hole and it stayed throughout the day. We are fortunate to have a five-shot lead, but won't say that we are in a comfortable place as anybody can shoot eight or nine under in this format.
"My partner S.S.P. has been saying from day one that we need to play our own game so we will do the same tomorrow as well and hopefully close the day with a trophy."
Chadha of Zion Hills seemed to be thrilled with his performance on day two and said: "I have been playing well for a while but just not been able to score. I hit and putted pretty well today."
Anura Rohana of Navratna Ahmedabad, who shot four-over on Thursday, didn't miss a single opportunity to make birdies on Friday.
Two-time European Tour winner Chawrasia said: "The plan for tomorrow is to ask Khalin to relax and collect atleast six birdies without any damage to win the title."
Team standings (Round 2):
ATAKE Chennai 12-underA276 (Khalin Joshi 65, Chikkarangappa 71, SSP Chawrasia 71);
ANavratna Ahmedabad 7-under 281 (Mithun Perera 70, Anura RohanaA68, Shankar Das 72);
AZion Hills BengaluruA6-under 282AA(Rahil Gangjee 75, C Muniyappa 73, Abhijit Chadha 66);
ALaqshya Mumbai 6-under 282A(Jyoti Randhawa 69, Mukesh Kumar 76, Manav Jaini 73);
ADev-Ellora Pune 4-under-284A(Siddikur 72, Om Prakash Chouhan 69, Sanjay Kumar 72);
AJaypee Greens Greater Noida 3-underA285 (Gaganjeet Bhullar 73, Rashid Khan 71, Shamim Khan 72);
AADLF The Crest Gurgaon Level-par 288 (Shubhankar Sharma 72, Manu Gandas 74, Abhinav Lohan 73).
