Ganapathy continues to lead

Rahul Ganapathy, the young new face of Indian professional golf, staged a remarkable recovery on day two and continued to lead the field at the halfway stage of the Rs 1 million Wills Western Open.

At the 6593-yard par-71 Poona Club golf course on Thursday, Ganapathy was four-over after eight holes, but finished with a one-over 72. That gave him a two-day aggregate of four-under 138, one better than Mukesh Kumar and Digvijay Singh, who were tied for second place at three-under 139. Indrajit Bhalotia was fourth at two-under 140, while Harmeet Kahlon and Rafiq Ali were tied for the fifth place at one-under 141.

The cut was applied at 10-over 152 and 51 professionals made it to the money-making rounds. Among the big guns who missed the cut was Calcutta veteran Basad Ali and Mohd. Islam of Patna.

Overnight leader Rahul Ganapathy started badly with a bogey on the very first hole. He then missed a two-feet par putt on the fourth to go two-over. His putting form deserted him completely as he dropped further strokes on the fifth and seventh holes, where he three-putted. But thereafter, the 21-year-old Mysore golfer staged a comeback and made birdies on the ninth, 14th and 17th holes to finish the day at one-over 72.

"I am very satisfied with the way I am hitting the ball, but my putting was very inconsistent today," said Rahul who is currently leading the race for the Mahindra Rookie of the Year.

"I am happy with my position but would rather be two strokes behind the leader on day four and catch up with him," he added when asked about his preferred position on the leaderboard on the final morning.

Mukesh had a fantastic chance to go on top of the leaderboard when he came on the 18th green at one-under for the round and was sitting with a downhill six-feet birdie chance. It looked a certainty, especially as he had converted a 35-footer curling monster on this very hole the previous day. But the vagaries of golf took over and the tricky Poona Club green extracted its revenge when he three-putted for a bogey to finish at level-par 71.

"That's why golf is a funny game," said a dejected Mukesh after the round.

Digvijay Singh made bogeys on the third and fifth holes, before making back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth to be even-par at the turn. On the back nine, the Meerut-based golfer made a birdie on the tenth, a bogey on the 12th and another birdie to round off a one-under 70 effort.

Bhalotia, winner of Wills Southern Open in Bangalore this season, shot a three-under 68. The Shima Seiki Janaksons-sponsored golfer three-putted from six feet on the fourth hole, and a birdie on the sixth was of no use as he was one-over after the eighth where he caught a flier with his sand wedge second shot and missed his up-and-down. However, once he almost drove the green on the par-4 ninth hole and made a birdie, he was a changed man.

After making birdies on the 11th and 14th, both set up by thunderous drives, the Calcutta player drew loud cheers from the gallery on the 18th hole when he hit a huge second shot from the 17th fairway after miscuing his tee shot. The ball landed just eight feet from the pin. He missed the eagle putt but finished with a birdie.

"On this course, you have several birdie chances if you are hitting the ball well, but you must possess a hot putter as the greens are unforgiving," said the 29-year-old.

KANITKAR STILL IN LEAD: Aditya Kanitkar shot a seven-over 78 but still led the amateur field by one stroke over Sachin Nigade and Jaideep Patwardhan, who returned cards of 73 and 75 respectively.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 138 _ Rahul Ganapathy (66,72); 139 _ Digvijay Singh (69,70), Mukesh Kumar (68,71); 140 _ Indrajit Bhalotia (72,68); 141 _ Harmeet Kahlon (73,68), Rafiq Ali (72,69); 142 _ Devendra Patel (74,68); 143 _ Ali Sher (72,71), Amritinder Singh (72,71); 144 _ Arjun Singh (75,69), Uttam Singh Mundy (72,72), Shiv Prakash (71,73); 145 _ Prakash Kubde (74,71), Zai Kipgen (72,73), Feroz Ali (70,75); 146 _ SSP Chowrasia (77,69), Tarun Sardesai (75,71), Sanjay Kumar (74,72).

Amateurs: 150 _ Aditya Kanitkar (72,78); 151 _ Sachin Nigade (78,73), Jaideep Patwardhan (76,75)