Competition hotting up in TNGF Open

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 6. The defending champion of the TNGF Open golf tournament, Rohtas Singh, was a touch anxious on Thursday. He had shot a six over 78 in the second round, a rather poor effort by his own exacting standards.

But, then, a day after he had shot a one under 71 in the opening round, there might have been hardly any cause for worry in terms of making the cut, you might have thought, on a course where the ones that are eight over after two days easily make the grade.

Not anymore. And nothing reflects the giant strides taken by Indian golfers on the domestic Tour as much as the fact that Rohtas, on Thursday, barely made the cut.

The veteran Delhi golfer squeezed in to stay alive in the event thanks, perhaps, to a putt missed by someone somewhere on some tricky green on the day!

That the cut was applied at five over par after two rounds mirrors the sheer intensity of the competition in the four round event that carries a prize money of Rs. 10 lakhs and one in which the first day leader Mukesh Kumar from Mhow just about managed to hang on to his advantage after a par round of 72 today.

Certainly, the record breaking first round 63 is a huge cushion.

Mukesh Kumar has a two round aggregate of 135 and two strokes behind him is the young, energetic Rafiq Ali, who shot a four under 68 in the second round, and Sanjay Kumar, who followed up his first round 66 with a 71.

S.S.P. Chaurasia of Kolkata is on 138 and Digvijay Singh is perched at 139.

As well as the Tuesday night rain that turned the course into a player-friendly beauty on Wednesday, what have also contributed to the string of good scores are the depth of the field and the advances made in equipment technology.

``The balls and the clubs are so good now that par fives are like par fours and the competition too is that much stronger,'' says Bunty Randhawa, a former champion on the course as a winner of The Hindu Open.

Surely, Mukesh, no matter his two-stroke lead, would be aware just how keen the competition is. There are two rounds to play and he wouldn't be planning on resting on his driver, really.

``Rounds like yesterday don't happen everyday. It happens once in a long time. I am happy just to be playing steady golf,'' said Mukesh, who had a birdie on the second and a bogey on the tricky 17 where if you don't make the green from the tee- box you are often in trouble.

Rafiq Ali, for his part, played a perfect round of golf with birdies on the first, eighth, 16th and 18th. His driving was so good that he was often left with simple putts to make as he ended up with a 68.

Sanjay Kumar had four birdies and three bogeys in a round of 71 but Harmeet Kahlon was very impressive with three birdies and an eagle on the 16th (he had a bogey on the 14th) for a round of 68.

Gurunath Meiyappan, winner of back-to-back amateur titles in The Hindu Open and in the Hyundai-MGC event last week, shot a superb par round of 72 to go into the lead among amateurs. His two day total is 147. In second place was L. Selvadurai (ONGC), who shot a second round 74 for a total of 148.

Fifty five pros and five amateurs, including the former India cricket captain Kapil Dev, who returned a second round card of 75, will play the last two rounds.

Leading pro scores: 135 - Mukesh Kumar; 137 - Rafiq Ali, Sanjay Kumar; 138 - S.S.P. Chaurasia; 139 - Digvijay Singh; 140 - Harmeet Kahlon, Firoz Ali, Ajay Gupta, Rahul Ganapathy; 141 - Magan Subbarao, Ali Sher.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Ashish propels MRF to victory
Next     : German doctors unavailable for SAI lab