Aussie Pilkadaris leads Indian Open by three

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Delhi: Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris fired a superb second round  of eight-under-par 64 to lead by three shots over home favourite S S P Chawrasia at the US$1.66 million Hero Indian Open today

Pilkadaris, a three-time Asian Tour winner but not since 2005, reeled in nine birdies to stay ahead of a battling Chawrasia and Nacho Elvira of Spain, who returned with a 67 and 68 respectively at the challenging Delhi Golf Club.

David Lipsky (67) of the United States, the 2014 Order of Merit winner, and Ben Evans (66) of England share fourth place on 136s in the event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

Lee Slattery of England produced the shot of the day when his three-wood second shot found the back of the cup for a magical albatross 2 on the par-five eighth hole. It was his career’s first albatross and the Asian Tour’s 21^st.

Pilkadaris was delighted to bounce back into form after missing four cuts in five appearances early this year due to a back injury.

“I had a trapped intercostal nerve in my back. I was moving furniture during Christmas time and hurt my back. That’s taken quite a while to recover. It was a rookie mistake and I’m no rookie so I should be shot for that one!” said Pilkadaris. 

Playing without any injury concerns, the Australian took advantage of his past experience of playing at the tree-lined Delhi course where he sank 25 putts and dropped only one shot after hitting his tee shot into the bushes on the last hole. 

“I felt really good out there and I kept going at flags. I kept giving myself chances and it was nice to take advantage of them. I’ve played about 40 rounds at least here and you got to keep it straight and on the fairway,” said Pilkadaris. 

After enjoying a successful 2015 season on the Challenge Tour where he won three times, the 29-year-old Elvira burst into contention for a first European Tour title thanks to five birdies.

The halfway cut was set on even-par 144 with a total of 74 players qualifying for the weekend. Padraig Harrington, a three-time Major champion, will miss the last two rounds after finishing one-shot outside the cutline.

 

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 144 (2x72) Yardage 6,983

131 - Terry PILKADARIS (AUS) 67-64.

134 - Nacho ELVIRA (ESP) 66-68, S.S.P CHAWRASIA (IND) 67-67.

136 - Ben EVANS (ENG) 70-66, David LIPSKY (USA) 69-67.

137 - Jorge CAMPILLO (ESP) 66-71, Rashid KHAN (IND) 69-68, Alejandro CANIZARES (ESP) 68-69.

138 - Adilson DA SILVA (BRA) 72-66, Chris PAISLEY (ENG) 70-68, Raphael JACQUELIN (FRA) 67-71, Julien QUESNE (FRA) 70-68, Gregory HAVRET (FRA) 68-70.

139 - Ross McGOWAN (ENG) 73-66, Shiv KAPUR (IND) 72-67, Maximilian KIEFFER (GER) 69-70, Sebastien GROS (FRA) 69-70, Sanjay KUMAR (IND) 67-72, Daniel IM (USA) 65-74, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 68-71.

140 - Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 71-69, Soomin LEE (KOR) 72-68, Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68-72, Paul DUNNE (IRL) 74-66, Craig LEE (SCO) 70-70, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 71-69, Honey BAISOYA (IND) 68-72, Peter UIHLEIN (USA) 72-68, Thangaraja N. (SRI) 69-71.

SELECTED SCORES
142 Scott Jamieson (Sco) 73 69 

MISSED THE CUT (144 and better qualified)
145 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 71 74
146 Andrew McArthur (Sco) 75 71
152 Marc Warren (Sco) 75 77
Retired: Jamie McLeary (Sco) 78 ret.

 

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