Golfer Abhijit Singh Chadha plays a shot during the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2022, in Chandigarh. (PTI Photo)Chandigarh golfer Abhijit Singh Chadha fired the joint best score of seven-under-65 to claim the sole lead with an overall score of 11-under-133 after the second round of the fifth edition of the Rs 1.5 crore Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by Take being played at Chandigarh Golf Club. Chadha, who was placed tied-seventh after the end of the first round, now leads Kapurthala golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar by one stroke.
Chadha, who shot a score of four-under-68 on the opening day, finished the second round with two eagles and three birdies. The Chandigarh golfer, who has won three titles on the PGTI Tour, started the day with confidence as he made an eagle on the second hole before he sank a birdie on the seventh hole and ended the front-nine with a score of three-under-33. Chadha then sank a birdie each on the 11th and 13th hole before he made an eagle on the 16th hole. He made par on the last two holes to card a second round score of seven-under-65.
“It was a steady round. I struck it well and made some long conversions. I kept it in play throughout. There were no stressful pars for me. Importantly, I haven’t made a bogey yet. I know my way around this course as it is my home course so I’m feeling quite comfortable and confident. The chip-in for eagle on the 16th hole stood out today. It was a perfectly executed shot and the ball landed just where I wanted it to,” said Chadha, who was trailing Bhullar by a shot till the 15 hole.
Bhullar, who was placed tied-13th after the opening round, too sank the day’s joint best round of seven-under-65. The Kapurthala golfer sank eight birdies and had a bogey in his second round on Friday. Bhullar sank two birdies and made one bogey on the front-nine before sinking six birdies on the back-nine to finish the day with an overall score of 10-under-134.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-65) carded eight birdies and a bogey in round two. Bhullar, who ended India’s four-year-long victory drought on the international stage with his win on the Asian Tour a few months back, made one 15-ft birdie conversion and landed most of his other birdies by hitting it within 10 feet.
Overnight leader and local lad Karandeep Kochhar carded a second round score of two-under-72 with an overall score of nine-under-135 while Bengaluru golfer Chikkarangappa carded a second round score of one-under-21 to be placed fourth with an overall score of 8-under-136. The Chandigarh quartet of Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Aadil Bedi, Akshay Sharma and Amrit Lal were tied-fifth along with Jamal hossain and Sandeep Singh with an overall score of seven-under-137 each. A total of 55 golfers including two amateur golfers made the cut after the cut was set at 1-under-143. Tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh, Kolkata golfer SSP Chawrasia and Viraj Madappa missed the cut.