New Delhi, March 10: Title holder S.S.P. Chawrasia charged to the top of the leaderboard with a superb five-under-par 67 in the weather-disrupted second round of the Hero Indian Open on Friday.

 

Chawrasia, a five-time Asian Tour winner, was at his sparkling best at the ultra-demanding DLF Golf and Country Club’s Gary Player course, rolling in five birdies to edge one shot ahead of first round leader and playing partner David Horsey of England. 

 

"I won’t change anything. I’ll keep the same strategy. Hit it straight and putt well (laughter). Very simple. This course is very tricky and you’ve got to be straight all the time. The greens are tough. All the time, you need full concentration on every single shot." The defending champion added " Last year I won, so I have lots of positivity. And now I’m leading so obviously I’m confident and I’m trying to win this tournament again. Hopefully I’ll play good the next two days."

 

Chawrasia has played in five tournaments this year, missing three cuts and posting a tied 35^th in Perth as his best finish to date

 

Spaniard Carlos Pigem, a one-time winner on the Asian Tour, battled to a 73 to stay in the hunt following a topsy-turvy day that included two double bogeys which left him three off the pace.

 

Following another lightning disruption which forced a two hour and 40 minute suspension in the afternoon, half the field from the afternoon session will return on Saturday, 7am to complete their rounds. Round three will not start before 12.30pm.

 

Amongst the players who failed to complete their second round was Italy’s Matteo Manassero, who stood at three under for the tournament through seven holes, two shots back of Chawrasia.

 

Chawrasia, 38, was delighted to complete his second round moments before the hooter went off at 2.45pm as he amassed a two-day total of five-under-par 139. He was at his straight-shooting best and holed monster putts on five and eight from 25 and 20 feet respectively.

"I shot five under and I’m very happy. First day I was level par as I was a little bit scared as it’s a new course and it’s very tricky. Overall I played good today. My hitting was really good and some putts dropped, that’s why I made five under. Great putts on five and eight, they were tough putts. On five, it was from about 25 feet and on eight, it was around 20 feet. Both were long putts." said Chawrasia. 

The US$1.75 million Hero Indian Open is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Indian Golf Union.

 

Did you know:

• Chawrasia’s round of 67 is only the second round of the tournament which was bogey-free. It was also his lowest round of the 2017 season. He missed only four greens and needed 27 putts for his round.
• Chawrasia has played in five tournaments this year, missing three cuts and posting a tied 35^th in Perth as his best finish to date.
• Chawrasia won the Hero Indian Open title by two shots last year. Prior to that, he had finished runner-up on four occasions. He also won the Resorts World Manila Masters last November for his first title outside of India and finished sixth on the Order of Merit.
• Horsey completed three holes of his first round on Friday morning with a bogey free 66 to grab the first round lead. In his second round which he played with Chawrasia, he shot three birdies against three bogeys and one double bogey.
• Horsey is chasing his fifth European Tour victory and his first since the 2015 Made in Denmark tournament.
• Pigem made four birdies, one bogey and two double bogeys in his round of 73. He missed five greens and took 29 putts in his round.
• Pigem is chasing his second Asian Tour title after his maiden triumph in the 2016 Yeangder TPC. This season, his best finish was second place at the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open.
• Pigem’s best finish on the European Tour is tied fourth at the 2016 Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

 

Scores after round 2 of the Hero Indian Open 2017 being played at the par 72, 7373 Yards DLF GcC course (am - denotes amateur):

139 - S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND) 72-67.

140 - David HORSEY (ENG) 66-74.

142 - Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 69-73, Michael HOEY (NIR) 71-71.

143 - Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 70-73.

144 - Daniel BROOKS (ENG) 73-71, Romain LANGASQUE (FRA) 69-75, Gregory HAVRET (FRA) 70-74, Scott JAMIESON (SCO) 70-74, Dylan FRITTELLI (RSA) 72-72.

145 - Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 73-72, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 75-70.

146 - Marcel SIEM (GER) 70-76, Daniel IM (USA) 74-72.

147 - Jens FAHRBRING (SWE) 73-74, Nino BERTASIO (ITA) 67-80, Peter UIHLEIN (USA) 72-75, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 73-74, Edoardo MOLINARI (ITA) 75-72, Lasse JENSEN (DEN) 70-77.

(Note: A total of 66 players will resume their second rounds at 7am, Saturday)