Mukesh Kumar extends lead
Mukesh Kumar continued his brilliant run of form on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour when he shot a bogey-free six-under 66 on the second day of the Rs 950,000 Surya Nepal Masters, the premier sporting
event of Nepal, at the par-72 Gokarna Forest Golf Resort course, in Kathmandu, on Thursday.
The Mhow-based golfer, who is eyeing his seventh title in last eight
appearances this season, was the sole leader at the halfway stage of the
Surya Nepal Masters, aggregating 11-under 133. However, Mukesh will have his
task cut out as 1997 champion Uttam Singh Mundy was snapping at his
heels at nine-under 135.
Mundy, who is yet to win a title this year, shot a
five-under 67. Brothers Feroz and Rafiq Ali continued to stay together, tied
for third place at six-under 138.
Deepak Acharya, tied for the ninth place, was the best-placed Nepali pro at
one-under 143.
Deepak Thapa Magar was in 18th place at two-over 146, along
with Tashi Ghale, the leader in amateur section. Ghale shot a commendable
one-under 71 and enjoyed a three-stroke lead over CB Bhandari.
Exactly 50 pros made the cut and will be joined by four amateurs on the final two days.
The cut was applied at 16-over 160. Nine Nepali pros made it to the
money-making rounds.
Mukesh was unstoppable. Starting from the first tee, the 35-year-old looked
unfazed by the 90-minute delay due to fog. He birdied the par-5 third and
the fourth. Like yesterday, he birdied the seventh, eighth and ninth and
made the turn at five-under. On the back nine, he missed a six-footer
birdie putt on the 12th and his solitary birdie came on the 15th hole.
"I have been playing extremely well and have set my sights on winning at
least ten titles on the Tour this season. I cannot really explain my form,
but I have been feeling very comfortable with my new set of Callaway X-14
irons, which have been giving me great results," said Mukesh, the current
Order of Merit leader on the Tour by far.
Mundy made just one bogey as against one eagle and four birdies in his round
of five-under 67. Starting from the 10th tee, the Kolkata pro made a birdie
on the 11th and an eagle on the 12th. His only bogey came from the right
rough on the 14th hole, where he missed his up-and-down. He then made
further birdies on the 18th, third and fourth holes.
"It will be difficult
displacing Mukesh considering the way he has been playing. But I have not
been playing too badly either and am going to fight it out till the last
shot," said the Eveready-sponsored Mundy after the round.
The other highlights of the day were successive give-in eagles by Amritinder
Singh on the 11th and 12th holes in a round of four-under 68 and a round of
five-under 67 by young Ashok Kumar.
Acharya, who is the teaching pro at Gokarna Forest Golf resort, had another
disastrous day on the greens in his round of even-par 72. The 27-year-old
missed several birdie chances and also hit his second shot on the seventh
hole out of bounds.
Scores (after 36 holes): 133 _ Mukesh Kumar (67,66); 135 _ Uttam Singh Mundy
(68,67); 136 _ Feroz Ali (69,69), Rafiq Ali (69,69); 139 _ Amritinder Singh
(71,68); 141 _ Pappan (71,70), Zai Kipgen (71,70); 142 _ Rahul Ganapathy
(74,68); 143 _ Ashok Kumar (75,67), Digvijay Singh (74,69), Shamim Khan
(72,71), Vishal Singh (71,72), Deepak Acharya (71,72); 144 _ Vinod Kumar
(67,75).
Amateurs: 146 _ Tashi Ghale (75,71); 149 _ CB Bhandari (75,74); 155
_ Mani Rai (75,80).
Yesterday's report
Mukesh Kumar makes another good start
