Poona Club Open: Karandeep, Kshitij continue as joint leaders on Day 2

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar and Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi continued as co-leaders for the second day in succession at The Poona Club Open, a ₹1 crore event, being played at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune.

Kochhar (64-66) and Kaul (64-66), the round one joint leaders by one shot, continued in the lead at the halfway stage with totals of 12-under 130 after they carded scores of five-under 66 in round two.

PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat and Samarth Dwivedi too returned rounds of 66 to be tied third at eight-under 134.

The cut came down at even-par 142. Fifty eight professionals made the cut.

Kochhar, a 10th tee starter, couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day as he holed his chip from 35 yards for eagle on the Par-4 10th. A couple of good iron shots and two long conversions then earned him birdies on the 13th and 16th.

The bogeys on the 18th and the second holes did not derail his round as Karandeep rallied with a great recovery shot over the trees to claim an eagle on the seventh. Kochhar followed that up with a 15-feet birdie conversion on the eighth.

Kochhar said, “Consistency was the key for me today. I stuck to my game plan of hitting the driver everywhere. I had a great start with the eagle that really got the momentum going for me. The highlight of the round was the approach shot on the seventh that led to an eagle. I played as per my plan by being aggressive there. Kudos to my caddie who guided me well on that shot.”

“As this is my seventh tournament in as many weeks, my back is hurting a bit. So, it’s important for me to get some physiotherapy and focus on rest and recovery,” he added.