ASIAN DEVELOPMENTAL TOUR REPORT, SCORES
JHA SHOWS FORM TO LEAD TAKE
SOLUTIONS INDIA MASTERS
Bengaluru,
India: India’s Abhishek Jha continued his good form at the
inaugural TAKE Solutions India Masters by matching his opening-day effort with another six-under-par 66 to take the second- round lead today.
Sweden’s
Nils Floren also set the stage alight by powering his way to the summit
with a 62 to trail Jha by one shot at the halfway stage of
the first Asian Development Tour (ADT) event to be launched in India.
Overnight
leader S Chikka of India lurked closely behind the Swede by posting
for a 70 to secure third place at the US$70,000 ADT event held at the
Eagleton Golf Resort in Bengaluru.
Starting
the day in third place, Jha quickly used his intimate knowledge of his
home course to move two spots up to lead the chasing pack with his
two-day total of 12-under-par 132.
An
opening birdie on the par-four first followed by another birdie on four
and an eagle-three on seven got Jha on his way in his opening
front-nine.
The Indian then marked his card with another red number on 10 before signing off for the day with his final birdie on 17.
“There’s
so much positive energy inside me now. I started with an eagle
yesterday and today it was a birdie that got me going! It helps when you
are playing on your home course too,” said the 27-year-old.
This
will be the first time Jha is taking the lead heading into the final 36
holes and he is looking forward to tighten his grip on his position.
“It’s exciting to know that I’m going to be the leader heading into the last two rounds. I’m going to try my best,” smiled Jha.
Playing
at the Eagleton Golf Resort for the first time, Floren admitted that he
was lucky to have put himself into a commanding position heading into
the final two rounds.
The
Swede was a man on fire as he reached the turn quickly in five-under
after firing three birdies and an eagle-two on the par-four six.
He continued his amazing run with further birdies on holes 10, 14, 15, 16 and 18 to set himself nicely for his maiden ADT win.
“This
is my first time playing on this golf course and I guess I’ve been
lucky. Everything went my way and my putter was really hot. I managed to
sink so many good putts which is wonderful!”
Floren
earned his Asian Tour card at Qualifying School in 2012 but failed to
retain his playing rights for the subsequent seasons.
The
Swede is, however, enjoying a new lease of life on the ADT where he has
enjoyed five top-10s and is currently in eighth place on the ADT Order
of Merit.
With
only the top-five players earning their Asian Tour cards for next
season, Floren knows it is going to be a tough fight to the finishing
line but remains confident of playing on the main Tour judging from his
performance today.
“That’s
my goal (finishing top-five). I’ve been working hard all season for it
and hopefully with a performance like today, I can secure it with two
events remaining after this week,” said Floren.
Meanwhile
Chikka, a three-time winner on the domestic circuit, is determined to
put up a good showing in memory of his grandfather who passed away last
week.
“It’s
been an emotional time for me since I lost my grandfather last week.
But my family encouraged me to focus on my game and do what he would
have liked me to do.
"I know he’s watching over me from above and I really want to make him proud this week,” said Chikka.
Chikka
could have held on to his lead if not for a triple-bogey seven on the
ninth hole where his shot got stuck in the tree, forcing him to take
penalty drop.
“It
was really unfortunate on the ninth hole but I guess that’s golf. I
just have to look ahead and I’m going to play aggressive golf to put
myself in a good position,” said Chikka.
132 Abhishek JHA (IND) 66 66
133 Nils FLOREN (SWE) 71 62
134 Chikka S (IND) 64 70
136 Khalin JOSHI (IND) 67-69, Deepinder Singh Kullar (IND) 67-69
137 C Muniyappa (IND) 69-68, Niall TURNER (IRL) 67-70
138 M DHARMA (IND) 67-71, Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA) 65-73
139 R. MURTHY (IND) 71-68, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 70-69, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 72-67
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home