LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
SCORESHEET
Day 1

September 18th 2009, Gurgaon: Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a second successive 68 to grab the second round lead at the DLF Masters 2009. His total now stands at eight under 136. Digvijay Singh also returned a 68 on Friday to be placed second at seven under 137. Jyoti Randhawa, Shamim Khan, Ashok Kumar and Rahil Gangjee are currently tied third at five under 139.

The cut was declared at five over 149. Fifty-four professionals made the cut.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (68, 68) unleashed a trademark 350 yard drive on his opening hole (10th) to show a glimpse of the kind of form he has been in over the last few weeks. Although he missed a three feet putt for par on the 12th, the strapping six-footer from Kapurthala rallied to collect birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th. He had an excellent recovery from the rough on the 18th, landing it four feet from the cup with the help of his pitching wedge from 133 yards.

Bhullar suffered a minor blip when he bogeyed the first and second thanks to a couple of missed chip-putts. A chip-in and some accurate approach shots earned him four more birdies on the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth.

Bhullar said, “I holed some good putts today, particularly on the 14th, seventh and ninth. Missing a one foot putt for birdie on the 15th was a bit disappointing. However, I was really pleased with my effort on the 18th, where I recovered from the rough with a near-perfect pitching wedge shot to earn a birdie.”

He added, “The contest just seems to have begun. There are many contenders at the moment as Jyoti, Ashok, Shamim, Digvijay and Rahil have all shot good scores in round two. There are still 36 holes to go and anything can happen. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself at the moment.”

Digvijay Singh (69, 68) is currently one stroke behind Bhullar in second place. His 68 on Friday included birdies on the first, second, sixth, eighth, 11th and a lone bogey on the 14th. He chipped-in for birdie on the second.

“I’m satisfied with my effort today since I have not been in the best of form in recent weeks. I have a problem with my swing at the moment and I am working towards getting that sorted out. However, I did not perform well with the putter in round two, missing some short putts on the back nine,” said Digvijay.

Shamim Khan’s (73, 66) splendid 66 on Friday was the best round of the day and it placed him tied third at five under 139 along with Jyoti Randhawa, Ashok Kumar and Rahil Gangjee. The Delhi golfer hit his tee shots to pin-point precision on the par three holes. His eight iron tee shots on the third, eighth and 16th landed within two, three and six feet of the pin respectively to set up easy birdie putts.

On the sixth, Shamim holed a monstrous 35 feet putt for birdie while on the 10th he knocked down a tricky 15 footer for the same result. The 31-year-old hit his third shot (lob wedge) to within three feet for yet another birdie on the 14th.

Shamim said, “I hit it close through the day, especially on the par three holes. I hit nine fairways today and made regulation on 15 holes. You have to be very precise with your tee shots at this course as the fairways are very tight and feature a number of slopes.”

Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa (71, 68) climbed from overnight tied 11th to tied third with the help of a solid 68 in round two. He made five birdies against one bogey to raise his hopes of defending his title.

Randhawa said, “I did not putt as well as round one but definitely hit it better today. I’m glad to be just three strokes adrift of the lead at this stage. I know I’ll be in contention from here on as long as I am patient.”

Ashok Kumar (69, 70) and Rahil Gangjee (70, 69) also share the third spot along with Randhawa and Shamim.

SSP Chowrasia, Anirban Lahiri and Shankar Das are tied seventh at three under 141.

Mukesh Kumar (74, 76) totaled six over 150 to miss the cut for the first time on the Aircel-PGTI. He was placed tied 55th.