Pune Club Open: Karandeep and Kshitij continue as joint leaders on Day 2

Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh and Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi remained co-leaders for the second day in a row at The Poona Club Open, a ₹1 crore event, played at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune.

Kochhar (64-66) and Kaul (64-66), the joint leaders in the first round by one shot, continued with a total of 12-under 130 at the midway point after posting scores of five-under in round two had scored 66. .

PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat and Samarth Dwivedi also returned rounds of 66 to finish in third place at eight-under 134.

The cut came to an even par of 142. Fifty-eight professionals made the cut.

Kochhar, a starter on the 10th tee, couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day when he holed his chip from 35 yards for Eagle on the Par-4 10th. A couple of good iron shots and two long conversions then gave him birdies at the 13th and 16th.

Bogeys at the 18th and second holes did not derail his round as Karandeep rallied with a great recovery shot over the trees to claim an eagle on the seventh. Kochhar followed that up with a 15-foot birdie conversion on the eighth.

Kochhar said: “Consistency was the key for me today. I stuck to my plan to hit the driver everywhere. I had a great start with the eagle, which really got the momentum going for me. The highlight of the round was the approach shot on the seventh that led to an eagle. I played according to my plan by being aggressive there. Kudos to my caddy who guided me well on that shot.”

“Since this is my seventh tournament in as many weeks, my back is a bit sore. So it is important for me to get some physiotherapy and focus on rest and recovery,” he added.