Amardip Sinh Malik reigns supreme with course record 61

Taunk, Prabagaran & Shamim tied for second; Chikka & Thangaraja fire aces

Hyderabad, February 27, 2015: Noida’s Amardip Sinh Malik fired a blistering nine-under-61 to take the lead in round two of the Golconda Masters 2015 and establish a new course record at the Hyderabad Golf Club. Malik led by one stroke at the halfway stage as he totaled 10-under-130. There was a three-way tie for second place at nine-under-131 between Sri Lankan K Prabagaran, Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunk and Shamim Khan of Delhi.

Amardip Sinh Malik (69-61) had a double-bogey start on the first after he hit a poor bunker shot and then missed chip-putt. Malik made up for the early setback as he rallied with birdie conversions from 30 feet and 10 feet on the second and third respectively. There was no looking back for the 29-year-old from there on. Amardip drove the green on the par-4 fifth for his third birdie and picked up two more strokes in quick succession on the sixth and seventh.

The highlight of Malik’s round was the eagle on the par-5 11^th where he missed an albatross by a whisker after landing his second shot just a foot from the flag. Amardip, who won his maiden event in December last year, set up four more birdies on the last seven holes by hitting it within six to eight feet of the pin. Malik thus broke the previous course record of 62 set by Prabagaran in round one.

Amardip said, “It was a great recovery after the double-bogey start. I just carried on after the two long conversions on the second and third. I was hitting it close throughout. I enjoyed some good stretches from the fifth to the seventh and again on the 11th and 12^th and the last four holes. I could’ve gone lower today had I not missed a few short putts.

“I’m enjoying the conditions here at the HGC and I’ll look to build on this effort in the next two days. The win at the end of last year was a morale-booster and I’ve been playing good golf since then,” added Malik.

Karan Taunk (65-66) moved up two places from his overnight tied fourth after a determined effort of 66. He had two long putts and two good chip-putts. Taunk, the 2014 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, capitalized on the three par-5s, the eighth, ninth and 11^th, by picking up strokes on all three holes. He dropped strokes as a result of finding the trees on the sixth and a couple of missed chip-putts.

“I’ve played the par-5s really well on the first two days. I’ve made birdies on five out of six occasions on the par-5s in the first two rounds. The 20-feet conversion on the seventh was almost a bonus as I wasn’t expecting it. The two unforced errors where I missed chip-putts were the only disappointment. One can’t afford to be on the wrong side of the hole at this course.

“I played well in my rookie season last year but I needed to work on some aspects of my game and so didn’t play the first two events of the season earlier this month. The hard work seems to be paying off,” said Taunk.

K Prabagaran (62-69), the overnight leader, continued to strike it well as he drove three par-4 greens which earned him two birdies. However, his putting let him down, as he three-putted twice. His only bogey was on the 17^th where he missed the green.

Shamim Khan (63-68) continued in joint second with a steady 68 that featured three birdies and a bogey. Khan created chances with his iron-play as all his three birdies were tap-ins.

On an eventful day, Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa and Sri Lankan N Thangaraja fired aces during their rounds of 65 and 66 respectively. While Chikka made hole-in-one on the 10^th, Thangaraja achieved the feat on the seventh.

Chikka was placed seventh at seven-under-133 and Thangaraja ended the day in tied 13^th at four-under-136. Thangaraja closed his round by picking up five strokes on the last four holes as he made birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie from the sixth through the ninth.

Gaganjeet Bhullar, one of the pre-tournament favourites, followed up his opening round of 70 with a 68 on day two to be placed tied 22^nd at two-under-138. The Kapurthala golfer’s second round featured an eagle-two on the fifth, four birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey. Bhullar was five-under through 16 holes but dropped three strokes on the last two holes after a double-bogey and bogey finish.

Kolkata’s Shankar Das, the 2014 Rolex Rankings champion, shot a 70 on Friday to join Bhullar in tied 22^nd position.

The cut was declared at four-over-144. Sixty professionals made the cut.