Golf: Bhasin takes lead after round 2

Kunal Bhasin compiled his second successive sub-70 round to take the lead after round two of the PGTI Players Championship at the Oxford Golf and Country Club on Wednesday. Bhasin carded a four-under 68 to follow his first round score of 69 to end the day on 137,two strokes ahead of Rudresh Sharma,Mukesh Kumar and Shamim Khan,all of whom shot 69 to add to 70s from round one.

Bhasin,an NRI born and raised in Australia,began the day badly,with bogeys at the par-five 11th and 16th holes,and ended the back nine at two-over. But he recovered brilliantly with an eagle at the second followed by a hat-trick of birdies at the fourth,fifth and sixth holes before ending his round with another birdie at the ninth. Round one leader Himmat Singh Rai,meanwhile,endured an off-day,shooting a one-over 73 to slip to 140,three strokes behind Bhasin.

The other major highlight of the day came at the par-3 17th,where Raj Randhawa sank a hole-in-one. Randhawa’s even 72 for the round took him to joint fourteenth on 145.