![\"Chikkarangappa](\"images\/golf\/Chikkarangappa-S-at-PGM-Northport-Glenmarie-Championship.jpg\")
Bengaluru: Reigning Rolex Ranking champion Chikkarangappa S of Bengaluru came into his own in round two of the TAKE Open Golf Championship as he shot a resolute five-under-67 to move into the joint lead along with Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh at eight-under-136. Sujjan brought in a card of two-under-70 on Thursday.<\/p>\n
While Panchkula-based Shubhankar Sharma (69) was one stroke off the pace in third place, four players, including Bengaluru-based amateur Jaibir Singh (69), Bengaluru’s Rahil Gangjee (70), Sri Lankan Anura Rohana (66) and Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha (72), were bunched together in tied fourth at six-under-138.<\/p>\n
The cut was declared at two-over-146. Fifty-three professionals and two amateurs made the cut.<\/p>\n
Local favourite Chikkarangappa (69-67), who was three off the lead in tied ninth after round one, held his front-nine together on Thursday despite struggling with his approach shots and wedge play. He was two-under through seven but then had a quiet spell of six pars till the 13th.<\/p>\n
Chikka’s round took off after his 20-feet birdie conversion from the edge on the 14th. He drained another long birdie putt on the next hole before completing his hat-trick of birdies on the 16th where his approach from 160 yards out landed within two feet of the flag.<\/p>\n
Chikka, who narrowly missed out on a birdie from 25 feet on the 18th, now seems to be in the groove as he hasn’t conceded a bogey for the last 28 holes.<\/p>\n
Chikka said, “I wasn’t at my best till the 13th hole today. But after the 20-feet conversion on the 14th, I really got into my stride. I played solid golf over the last five holes. The birdie on the 16th was another morale-booster for me.<\/p>\n
“It’s not easy reading the greens here and therefore I was struggling to make putts in the first half of my round. Sometimes you need a little luck on the greens. Today I also found the right side of the holes and thus didn’t have too much of a problem with some of the tight pin positions.<\/p>\n
“I’m very comfortable with my new 3-wood and have been striking it to over 280 yards. I’ve therefore used the driver only once in the first 36 holes. I don’t think I’ll need it in the last two rounds either since my 3-wood has been doing the job.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been doing well with my new putter as I took 26 putts today. That’s been my putting average over the last few weeks on the Asian Tour as well,” added Chikka, a winner of nine titles, including two on the Asian Development Tour (ADT).<\/p>\n
Sujjan Singh (66-70), the round one joint leader, hung on to his overnight position after a steady 70 that saw him make three birdies and a bogey.<\/p>\n
Sujjan, also a winner on the ADT, looked set for the sole lead after he drained three birdie putts from 10 to 15 feet on the first 12 holes. However, a misjudgment of line on the 14th green led to his fourth three-putt of the tournament and resulted in a bogey.<\/p>\n
“I had it under control till the seventh but lost my way between the eighth and the 14th. I didn’t hit it too well on that stretch and this course gets you if you do that. Nonetheless, I managed to keep it together at the end with pars on the last four holes,” said Sujjan.<\/p>\n
He added, “It’s going to be a fun weekend with Chikka in top form. However, I’ll just be focusing on my game rather than thinking of anything else.”<\/p>\n
Shubhankar Sharma lurks in third place as he followed up his first round 68 with a fighting 69. He almost holed out from 120 yards on the 18th where he picked up one of his four birdies.<\/p>\n
Bengaluru amateur Jaibir Singh, playing at his home course, shot a second successive 69 to be two off the lead in tied fourth. The 26-year-old Jaibir, ranked India’s no. 2 amateur this year, seemed to have been inspired after playing his practice round alongside Indian star Jyoti Randhawa on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Jaibir’s spirited second round effort saw him land it within six feet on four occasions as he came up with six birdies against three bogeys.<\/p>\n
Anura Rohana produced the day’s best score of 66 to move up from overnight tied 37th to tied fourth position.<\/p>\n
Round one joint leader Abhijit Singh Chadha of Chandigarh slipped to tied fourth place after a 72 on day two. Bengaluru’s Rahil Gangjee (70) was also part of the quartet bunched together in tied fourth place.<\/p>\n
Jyoti Randhawa (69-70) was one of six golfers in tied eighth place at five-under-139.<\/p>\n
Fifteen-year-old Aadil Bedi of Chandigarh was the second amateur to make the cut. Aadil, one of India’s leading juniors, followed up his opening round 76 with a valiant 70 in round two to be tied 49th at two-over-146.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bengaluru: Reigning Rolex Ranking champion Chikkarangappa S of Bengaluru came into his own in round two of the TAKE Open Golf Championship as he shot a resolute five-under-67 to move into the joint lead along with Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh at eight-under-136. Sujjan brought in a card of two-under-70 on Thursday.<\/p>\n
While Panchkula-based Shubhankar Sharma (69) was one stroke off the pace in third place, four players, including Bengaluru-based amateur Jaibir Singh (69), Bengaluru’s Rahil Gangjee (70), Sri Lankan Anura Rohana (66) and Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha (72), were bunched together in tied fourth at six-under-138.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2848,11411,12943,466,18524,5653,18451],"class_list":["post-29513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-golf-golf","tag-aadil-bedi","tag-chikkarangappa-s","tag-golf-news","tag-indian-sports-news","tag-reigning-rolex-ranking","tag-sujjan-singh","tag-take-open-golf-championship"],"yoast_head":"\n