Rashid sprinting to another title

Kapurthala’s Imamul Haque and Chandigarh’s Varoon Parmar share second place at two-over 133. Parmar could only manage a 75 on Tuesday after a first-round 67,while Haque followed up his first round of even-par 70 with a 72. There were five players tied for fourth place,including HS Kang,who carded a one-under 69.

With just a two-shot lead going into the second round,Rashid had needed another good round to make some breathing room on the top and he did that just fine. The 18-year-old started off in ominous fashion,making a birdie from less than six feet on the par-4 10th,his first hole of the day.

He had to wait for another nine holes before making his next birdie. A good tee shot on the par-3 fourth gave him his third birdie and took him to three-under for the round. With none of the par-5s yielding a birdie for Rashid,he stepped on to the ninth tee,his final hole for the day,needing to check that box in his performance table.

A good tee shot followed up by a long iron from the left fairway allowed him to be on the green in two and a safe two-putt from there gave him his first birdie on a par-5 this week,and took his tournament total to nine-under par.

Speaking later,the Delhi boy said: “The last-hole birdie was important for me. On the par-5s,I gave myself enough chances for a birdie but I couldn’t manage to convert any one of the putts. My driver from the tee took my ball over 300 yards and I was confident that I could draw the ball from right to left to put the ball on the green.”

About his chances,he added,“I am in a good position but I remember in the pro tournament I played here last year,I was 14 shots behind the overnight leader and I finished the tournament in front of him in third place. So I will have to be careful over the next two rounds. I have already said my target for the week is 15-under and I hope I can get there on Thursday.”

The 11-shot lead also gives the Delhi Golf Club player a good chance of securing his 11th title on the amateur tour. A total of forty players made the cut which was declared at 13-over 143.

Leading Scores:
131 Rashid Khan (65,66)
142 Imamul Haque (70,72),Varoon Parmar (67,75)
144 HSKang (75,69),Pawan Kumar (74,70),Parvesh Baisoya (73,71),Tarun Goghale (73,71),Rahul Bajaj (70,74)
145 Kanishk Madan (77,68),Simarjeet Singh (74,71),Karan Taunk (72,73),Gagan Verma (70,75)
146 Romario James (76,70),Angad Cheema (74,72),Moin Malak (70,76)