Thursday, March 19, 2009
Nirat marches ahead
Day two of the SAIL Open 2009 turned out to be an eventful one as Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat, the round one leader, created a record of sorts by shooting a second successive 62 to open up a four stroke lead at 20 under 124. India’s Anirban Lahiri blasted a phenomenal 62 as well to climb up to tied 10th at 10 under 134. However, Gaganjeet Bhullar was the highest placed Indian at the end of round two. He fired a bogey-free eight under 64 on Thursday to be placed fourth with a 13-under-131 total.
The cut was declared at four under 140. Sixty-seven professionals made the cut.
Chapchai Nirat, nicknamed ‘King Kong’, took the honours for the second successive day after delivering an awesome 62. He putted with perfection, making 23 putts in all which included one-putts on the first six holes.
New Zealand’s Mark Purser (65, 63) occupies second place, being four strokes adrift of the leader (16 under). Wisut Artjanawat (65, 64) of Thailand is third at 15 under 129.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (67, 64) is the best placed Indian at the moment since he totals 13 under 131 at the halfway stage. The 20-year-old opened his round with three consecutive birdies on the 10th, 11th and 12th. He went from strength to strength, picking up more birdies on the 14th, 18th, first, second and ninth.
Bhullar said, “All my putts were within 10 feet today. I also did well with the lob wedge and sand wedge in round two, having made some good chips. My victory at Panchkula last week has given me tremendous confidence. I’m hitting the ball well and I have this good feeling about all departments of my game.”
Anirban Lahiri (72, 62) shot up from overnight tied 96th to tied 10th thanks to his amazing round of 10 under 62 on Thursday. Lahiri’s total reads 10 under 134 at the halfway stage. Seven of his ten birdies came on the front nine. He hit it close through the today and importantly made a 25 feet putt for birdie on the second, a hole that had given him some trouble in the past. On the third, the 21-year-old was unfortunate to miss an eagle as his chip lipped out.
“I was glad to get off to a good start today since I’ve been struggling with my starts off late. Last time I played on this course about two weeks back, I started slowly with an ordinary first round but then came back with a solid performance in the second. I had that in my mind today and kept reminding myself to do the basics well and just relax. Once I got off to a flying start I got myself into a good position for birdies on a number of holes,” said Lahiri.
He added, “I was a little out of sorts in round one because I was anxious and somehow could not get myself to relax. There is a meditation track that I listen to when I feel stressed and that track helped me relax today. I knew I had to shoot at least four or five under today to make it to the weekend. I’m glad to have made it to the weekend rounds.”
Shiv Kapur (68, 66), C Muniyappa (68, 66) and Rahil Gangjee (67, 67) were the other Indians who joined Lahiri in tied 10th place.
Shiv Kapur got off to a poor start after losing his ball on the 12th but then made a fabulous recovery with the help of an eagle on the 14th and six birdies to close with a 66.
C Muniyappa, who also posted a 66, benefitted from three good chip-ins on the 14th, 16th and 17th. On the 14th he chipped-in for eagle from the fringe.
Ashok Kumar and Sujjan Singh share 15th place at nine under 135 while Gaurav Ghei, A S Lehal and Naman Dawar are joint 22nd at eight under 136.
SSP Chowrasia, Rafiq Ali Mollah and Amandeep Johl lie in tied 30th place at seven under 137.
Jyoti Randhawa (71, 69) and Mukesh Kumar (70, 70) totaled four under 140 after two rounds to be tied 53rd.
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