Panchkula, October 5

Bangladesh golfer Jamal Hossain continued with his dominance to maintain the lead after 36 holes at the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at Panchkula Golf Club. Hossain carded a total of 4-under 68 in the second round to consolidate his position at the top with an overall score of 11-under 133 at the end of the play today.

Sri Lankan golfer N Thangaraja was the standout performer of the day. His day’s best round of 8-under 64 helped him to claim the second spot. He now trails the leader by just one stroke at 10-under 134. Badal Hossain of Bangladesh was placed third with an overall score of 9-under 135 at the halfway stage.

Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (68-68), along with Gurugram’s Manu Gandas (69-67), was placed at tied-4th with identical scores of 8-under 136 after Round 2. Other golfers in the top 10 spots included Om Prakash Chouhan (68-69) and Ankur Chadha (69-68), who made a hole-in-one on the 13th, at T6 with scores of 7-under 137; PGTI Order of Merit leader Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-68) at the 8th place with a score of 6-under 138; M Dharma (70-69), Brashwarpal Singh (69-70) and Sudhir Sharma (71-68) at T9 with scores of 5-under 139.

Meanwhile, the cut was declared at 1-under 143. As many as 52 professionals and two amateurs made the cut.

Hossain’s round today consisted of five birdies and a lone bogey. “My driving and my second shots bailed me out today as I missed a lot of birdie putts in the second round,” said Jamal.

Olympian Udayan Mane, three-time PGTI Order of Merit Winner Rashid Khan and defending champion Chikkarangappa S are tied at 40th with an overall score of 1-under 143. Two of the three Panchkula-based amateurs in the field who made the cut were Brijesh Kumar, who was tied 28th at 2-under 142, and Arjun Singh Bhatia, who occupied tied 40th at 1-under 143.