Khan joins Das at top

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Rashid Khan

Delhi golfer Rashid Khan fired a five-under 67 to join overnight leader Shankar Das of Kolkata after the second round of the PGTI Players Championship at the picturesque Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune on Wednesday.

After 36 holes, Rashid and Das were at seven-under 137, with the latter carding a two-under 70 on the day.
Bengaluru’s Anirban Lahiri was one stroke behind the leaders at tied third place along with Delhi duo of Shamim Khan and Vinod Kumar.
The cut was declared at three-over-147. Fifty participants made the cut.
On the day, Das (67,70) began solidly with seven straight pars. He rolled in a 10-footer for his first birdie of the day on the eighth hole. A brilliant chip set up a birdie for the Kolkata-based golfer on the ninth hole which took his score to two-under for the round.
However, two poor shots on the 13th hole led to a bogey for the soft-spoken golfer, but he finished the day on a high carding a birdie on the 18th hole. He hit an astonishing approach shot from 115 yards out on the 18th which hit the edge of the hole and lipped out.
“I was solid through the day. My focus was on shooting an under-par score in order to stay on track for the last two days. The sand-wedge approach shot on the 18th was my best shot of the tournament so far and helped lift my confidence a great deal. However, the chipping was disappointing in round two. I need to chip better in order to stay in contention,” said Das.
Rashid (70, 67), tied third overnight, began the day with a bogey on the 10th hole but then rallied with four successive birdies from the 13th through the 16th. He knocked in a 10-feet putt on the 13th and followed it up with a 15-feet conversion on the 14th hole.
Rashid, who finished second in the 2012 Rolex Rankings, kept up the good work with clinical chip-putts for birdies on the 15th and 16th holes. He picked up two more birdies on the fifth and ninth to end the day with a 67.
Rashid said, “I hit 15 greens in regulation on both days but I grabbed more chances on the greens in the second round. The weather conditions were much better today as it just drizzled for a brief spell in the morning. I felt more comfortable on the course today and thus shot a lower number.”
Lahiri (70, 68), Shamim (71, 67) and Vinod (70, 68) were tied third at six-under-138. Lahiri’s bogey-free 68 featured a chip-in from 15 feet for birdie on the 14th hole. Shamim’s 67 was the joint best score of the day along with Rashid’s. Himmat Singh Rai of the DLF Golf & Country Club and Mohammad Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh shared the sixth place at five-under-139.
Saurabh Bhaduri (71, 72), with a total score of one-under-143, was the highest-placed Pune golfer at tied 24th position.
Defending champion Om Prakash Chouhan (77, 78) missed the cut as he totalled 11-over 155 after the two rounds.