SCORESHEET
Day 1


November 26th 2009, Mumbai: Shaquill Shane of the United States returned a six under 47 to grab the sole lead on day two of the Crompton Greaves Open 2009 (an Aircel-PGTI event) at The Willingdon Sports Club. Shane now has a total of 10 under 96. C Muniyappa, the reigning Indian Open champion and Praduman Singh Guleria are joint second at nine under 97.

The cut was declared at one over 107. Fifty-three professionals made the cut.

The course at the Willingdon Sports Club is undergoing renovation and being re-turfed. As a result of this, holes 7, 8 and 9 will not be in play for the first two rounds and 15 holes will constitute one stipulated round. The par for the course in round one and two is 53.

Shaquill Shane

Shaquill Shane (49, 47), a rookie on the Aircel-PGTI, came up with his best performance of the season to grab the sole lead on Thursday. Shane, one of the joint leaders from round one, sank seven birdies and dropped a lone bogey in round two. He bogeyed the first and did not look back from there on, making birdies on the fourth, fifth, 10th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 18th.

Shaquill hit his five-iron tee shot to within a few inches of the pin on the 10th and then recovered well from the rough on the 15th for another creditable birdie.

Shane said, "It's great to be leading at this stage. I've not had a good season on the Aircel-PGTI so that makes today's round that much more special. The tee shot on the 10th and the second shot on the 15th were the highlights of my round today. I also made a tough downhill putt from 12 feet for birdie on the 17th. I putted really well in round two and I think the changes I recently made to my swing have improved my performance."

The American added, "I'll now concentrate on hitting maximum fairways and making as many regulations as possible since the competition would be tough over the next two days with some very experienced players in contention."

Bangalore's C Muniyappa (49, 48) began with a double bogey on the first, where he had problems recovering from the bunker. He then hit a purple patch, sinking birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth. Muniyappa hit it really close on the second, fourth and sixth and sank a 15-footer on the fifth.

The joint leader from round one picked up another birdie on the 15th and wrapped up his round with a fantastic eagle on the 17th, where his four-iron second shot from 210 yards came up seven feet short of the pin.

Muniyappa said, "Today's round was better than the first round. In round one I was trying to get accustomed to the course as this happens to be my first tournament at this venue. But today I played it smart, having got used to the conditions here. I hit an excellent bunker shot from 40 yards out on the fourth to land it within seven feet. The long putt for birdie on the fifth gave a further boost to my confidence."

He added, "I would have ideally liked to be at around 12 under after today's round but nine under still places me in a very strong position."

Praduman Singh Guleria (50, 47) of Delhi produced seven birdies and a lone bogey in his second round to be tied for second along with Muniyappa.

Guleria knocked-in four birdies on the trot from the second through the fifth. He drove the green on the par four fourth and hit it extremely close on the other three holes to set up relatively easy birdie putts.

The 30-year-old then birdied the 12th and 14th. On the 14th he chipped-in from the ditch on the left side of the green. A bogey followed on the 15th but Praduman managed to negate that with another birdie on the 17th.

"I hit it very close on the first few holes and then had that exceptional chip-in on the 14th. The only blemish today was hitting it out of bounds on the 15th, where I bogeyed. The third shot from 60 yards on the 17th was also very special as it landed within a few inches of the pin," said Guleria.

He went on to add, "It's very important to make birdies on the third, fourth and fifth, the three short par four holes. I managed to make those three holes count and therefore had a good score."

Raju Ali Mollah of Kolkata is in fourth place at eight under 98 while Mukesh Kumar is a further stroke back in fifth place.

Delhi's Vivek Bhandari produced the best round of the day, a seven under 46, to be tied seventh at five under 101. Bhandari's second round featured eight birdies and a lone bogey. He birdied the first four holes on Thursday.