Saksansin in lead; Chikka, Joshi stay in contention

Bengaluru: On a cloudy day at the Karnataka Golf Association, the local lads broke free as they put themselves in contention, even as overnight leader Poom Saksansin maintained his stranglehold at the inaugural Take Solutions Masters here.

Starting the day with a two-stroke lead Saksansin looked to have mastered the course as he turned in a card of four-under for a total of 11-under-131, with his nearest threat four shots behind.

Localite Khalin Joshi, tied seventh overnight with another home boy S. Chikkarangappa, jumped to take second spot with a four-under-67 for a total of seven-under-135.

Chikka, who had a turbulent round, managed to take tied third, ensuring the two Bengaluru pros were well in reach of the leader. Along with Chikka, four others were tied for the third, including Sujjan Singh, Viraj Madappa, Rahil Gangjee and Indonesia’s Rory Hie.

Thailand’s Saksansin got off to a steady start on the second day, saving only one shot on the front nine.

But the back nine was more eventful for the pro as he birdied four holes, starting on the 10th, followed by 12, 13 and finishing off with one more on the 18th. His only dropped shot of the tournament came on the par-4 17th hole.

Satisfied with his game and most importantly, his driving, the 24-year-old said, “My good drive has been the key these two days. The reason I have been playing well is because it’s a short course,” said the 24-year-old.

Meanwhile, Joshi had a missed shot on the second and sixth but made up for it with six birdies coming on the 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th.

Having put himself well within reach Joshi said, “My wedges have been pretty well but I have to work on my driver and putting for tomorrow.”

On the other hand, Chikka looked set to topple the leader or at least give him a run for his money. But he squandered a good start to turn in a similar opening round score of three-under for a total of six-under-136.

The favoured pro had a card studded with five birdies and one eagle and was well in command before a double bogey on 14th along with two missed shots on 7th and 17th saw him slip down.

But the golfer was happy to have put himself in contention and said, “It was a roller-coaster round and I think I visited more parts of the course than I  ever have but am happy to have made a comeback.”

Leading scores: 131: Poom Saksansin (64+67); 135: Khalin Joshi (68+67); 136: S. Chikkarangappa (68+68), Rory Hie (69+67), Sujjan Singh (67+69, Viraj Madappa (66+70), Rahil Gangjee (70+66); 137: Syed Saqib Ahmed (67+70), Danny Chia (70+67), Divyanshu Bajaj (66+71); 138: Jyoti Randhawa (69+69), Aman Raj (69+69); 139: S. Chawrasia (69+70),  John Michael O’Toole (70+69); 140: Honey Baisoya (73+67), Carlos Pigem (67+73), Shubhankar Sharma (74+66), R. Murthy (73+67)

Note: The cut was declared at three-ver-145 with 67 professionals achieving the mark.