SCORESHEET
Day 1

October 30th 2009, Jamshedpur: Gurki Shergill kept up the tempo in round two of the 8th TATA OPEN to open up a two-stroke lead. He followed up his first round 64 at the Golmuri Golf Course with a hard-earned three under 69 at the Beldih Golf Course on Friday to take his total to nine under 133. Defending champion Shamim Khan and Sujjan Singh are in tied second place at seven under 135.

The cut was declared at six over 148. Fifty four professionals and two amateurs made the cut.

On Thursday one half of the field had played its 18 holes at the par 72 Beldih Golf Course while the golfers in the other half had completed their rounds at the par 70 Golmuri Golf Course. On Friday both halves of the field switched venues (those who played at Beldih on day one, played 18 holes at Golmuri on day two and vice-versa).

Gurki Shergill

Gurki Shergill (64, 69), the joint overnight leader, did not have an ideal start as he bogeyed the second hole. He then rallied with birdies on the sixth and seventh. The third shot on the seventh stopped just two feet short of the pin. A bogey on the eighth took his score back to even par for the day. However, Shergill put together a solid back nine, producing birdies on the 12th, 16th and 18th, to hold on to his lead.

His chip shots from the fringe of the 12th and 16th greens found the flag-stick on both occasions and led to a couple of easy birdie putts.

“I’m delighted to be leading at this stage. But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself at the moment and would just like to enjoy the next two rounds. I hit it really close on the sixth, seventh and 18th and reaped the rewards for those shots with birdies. I also had an incredible par save on the fifth, where I chipped-in from the front edge,” said Shergill.

He added, “I’m glad that I grabbed my opportunities on the par five holes today. I was three under for the par fives in round two.”

Sujjan Singh of Chandigarh fired a one under 69 at Golmuri to be in joint second place along with defending champion Shamim Khan of Delhi who came up with a two under 70 at Beldih. Sujjan and Shamim have an identical total of seven under 135.

Vikrant Chopra is placed fourth with a total of five under 137 while Jamshedpur-based amateur Karan Taunk, Vinod Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Mohd Siddikur Rahman and Pappan are a further stroke behind in tied fifth position.

Mukesh Kumar, the Aircel PGTI Order of Merit leader, is tied 13th at two under 140.

Navtez Singh of Jamshedpur is placed tied 22nd at one over 143.

Courtesy: Nikhil Kalaan