Phillaur (Punjab), March 26 (IANS) Jamshedpur’s Kurush Heerjee and Chandigarh golfer Manjot Singh shared the lead with a total of seven-under 135 after Round Two of the PGTI NexGen’s Phillaur Open being played at the Ranjitgarh Golf Club in Phillaur, Punjab, on Wednesday.
Chandarjeet Yadav (64) of Chandimandir, Amrit Lal (66) of Chandigarh, and Delhi’s Wasim Khan (69) were placed tied third at totals of six-under 136.
The cut was applied at three-over 145. The top 37 professionals made the cut for the third and final round.
Kurush Heerjee (68-67) mixed six birdies and two bogeys during his opening round. Kurush produced some great wedge shots to land the ball within four feet on three occasions which resulted in two birdies and a par. The 29-year-old Heerjee also executed two of his bunker shots to perfection which led to birdies for him.
On the back nine, Kurush was exceptional with his putter as he sank a 50-footer and a 20-footer for birdies. Heerjee thus climbed five spots from his overnight tied sixth position.
“I played decent golf, got the basics right, and didn’t make too many mistakes in the first two NEXGEN events, but somehow it didn’t show up in my scores. This week, I decided to do the same thing by putting my head down and focusing on one shot at a time. That approach has worked for me so far in Phillaur. I played some excellent wedge shots today,” Kurush said.
The 19-year-old Manjot Singh (66-69) made an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys to continue in the joint lead for the second straight day.
Both the Phillaur-based professionals, Swatanter Kumar and Amit Kumar, missed the cut.
The Phillaur Open is the third stage of the NexGen Championship, which will give the overall winner a place in the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) for the season. It is a pathway created by the PGTI for golfers ranked lower than 60 in last year’s order of merit.
–IANS
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