Bhandari takes lead in Hero Honda Open

Vivek Bhandari shot a stunning six-under 66 in the second round to open a three-stroke gap over his nearest rival at the halfway stage of the Rs 1 million Hero Honda Open golf, being played at the par-72, 7,078-yard Karnataka Golf Association course, on Thursday.

Asian PGA Tour regular Amandeep Johl brought in a course record-equaling seven-under 65 which helped him leapfrog to second place at four-under 140.

Jyoti Randhawa, who also shot a seven-under 65 here during the 1997 Wills Masters, Rahul Ganapathy, SSP Chowrasia and Prakash Kubde joined overnight leader Ranjit Singh at 141 for the tied third spot.

The cut was applied at seven-over 151 with exactly 50 pros made it to the money-making rounds. Among the leading golfers who missed the cut were Amritinder Singh (Chandigarh), Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow), Vishal Singh (Jaipur) and rookie Rahil Gangjee (Kolkata). Earlier, Arjun Singh of Delhi pulled out due to a wrist injury.

“I always knew I was a good player and the loss of form was temporary. Things just had to fall in place,” said Bhandari, who is enjoying a purple patch. With the confidence of a 14th place finish at the Volvo Masters, in Malaysia two weeks ago, the Delhi-based golfer made a welcome return to the Hero Honda Golf Tour, to card a second place finish at last week’s Cotton City Open in Coimbatore.

On Thursday, Bhandari capitalised on his newfound form to record a 66. Starting on the 10th tee, Bhandari birdied the 11th before dropping his only shot of the day on the 12th.

“I missed a simple five feet putt,” he said. Thereafter, there was no looking back. Birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th were followed by three more on the 3rd, 6th and 8th.

“I plan to attack the course tomorrow. Birdies will be my goal. There is no safe play, at least not on a classy course like this,” said the leader who tallied 27 putts today.

Johl has a reputation on the Asian PGA Tour as a course record breaker. Just five months ago, in April, Johl carded a record breaking nine-under 63 at the Maekyung Open, played at the par-72 Namseoul Country Club, Korea.

Today, despite falling one stroke short of breaking the course record, he played like the champion golfer he is.

Johl credited his round to a change in putter. “Yesterday, I used the traditional short putter but it didn’t work,” said the bearded pro referring to his opening day’s round. “Today, with my long handle putter, everything just fell into place and with my hitting clicking, the long putter helped me on the greens.”

A tenth tee starter, Johl overcame a par-bogey start to his day-two round with some really hot golf. Birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th were followed by five straight birdies in the first five holes of his back-nine.

“On the 12th, I three-putted but was not too concerned as I knew my feel was back,” said the Chandigarh pro. “My hitting was so good that I hardly had any long putts to sink,” he added. “I am out here to have some fun. Playing with Vivek and Jyoti will keep me on my toes,” he concluded.

Jyoti Randhawa’s game was a shade rusty today. Though last year’s second ranked Asian PGA Tour pro returned a level-par 72 today, he was less than satisfied with his performance on the greens. “I didn’t putt as well as yesterday,” said the twice Hero Honda Masters winner.

“Though the conditions were perfect for an under-par score, I feel I was a bit tentative,” added the 29 year-old.

Ganapathy followed up his first round 70 with a one-under 71 to give himself a real shot at the title. “I played very well today. I want to win this tournament for my coach Brandon de Souza. I am sure he will be proud if I win against such a strong field,” he added.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 137 _ Vivek Bhandari (71,66); 140 _ Amandeep Johl (75,65); 141 _ Prakash Kubde (70,71), Rahul Ganapathy (70,71), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (70,71), Jyoti Randhawa (69,72), Ranjit Singh (67,74); 142 _ Shamim Khan (70,72); 143 _ Vijay Kumar (72,71); 144 _ Feroz Ali (75,69), Indrajit Bhalotia (72,72), Mukesh Kumar (71,73), Asgar Ali (70,74); 145 _ Rohtas Singh (73,72), Shiv Prakash (71,74), Yusuf Ali (71,74) Amateurs: 152 _ Joseph Chakola (80,72); 155 _ Sachin Nigade (74,81)