Jyoti Randhawa followed by the charming wife Chitrangadha, took the centre stage after taking lead at the half-way stage of the Hero Honda Open South, the second leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour, at the Karnataka Golf Association in Bangalore on Wednesday.
An unlucky Jyoti Randhawa managed to add a three-under par 69 to his overnight 71 to lead the field by two strokes.
Ajai Gupta played an identical second round of 1-under par 71 for a two-day total of two-under par 142 and was tied with his namesake - Harinder for the second place. Harinder submitted the second-best card of two-under 70 for the day.
The two Pakistanis - Javed Inayat and Matloob Rana, who created minor flutters on the opening day fizzled out with cards of one-over 73 each but remained in contention along with overnight leader Mukesh Kumar who had a disappointing day returning four-over 76 for the day. The trio shared the fourth spot at 143.
As many as 63 pros made it to the money-making rounds after the cut was applied at 12-over par 156.
Randhawa was quite relaxed as he later admitted that some good sleep had done wonders for him after a hectic travel schedule. A 10th tee starter, the star golfer made successive birdies on the 11th and 12th, the former with an accurate sand-wedge approach and hit it to one-feet.
After parring his way till the 17th, the 33-year-old Arjuna Awardee birdied the 18th, once again with a good approach shot. However, on the back nine, Jyoti seemed to run out of luck as he missed three birdies, with two of them just kissing the lip of the hole. It was not until the ninth, his finishing hole, that he made another birdie, despite landing in two on the par-5, 585-yard hole.
Randhawa, playing his first event on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour since two years, was quite satisfied with his game. His only bogey came on the par-3, 13th, where he hit a little short and made two putts.
"I am hitting much better and putting much better," said Randhawa.
"I am close to gaining what I had aimed for in this tournament - to get my swing in shape. The only thing I am unhappy is the fact that I did not get any birdies on eight holes on my back nine. Usually, I try and get a couple of them. I was over-excited and was trying too hard," he admitted.
Ajai Gupta will be playing with Randhawa in the lead group on the morrow. The last time the veteran played with the ace was when Randhawa had turned pro, more than a decade ago.
The 41-year-old from Delhi Golf Club had a better back nine after being two-over in the first three holes. The birdies on the fifth and ninth were the saving grace on the front nine after he had lost one more stroke on the seventh.
However, he made some great saves for par on the sixth before making birdies on the 11th and 14th. The stocky pro also made good up down on the 16th and 17th before signing off with another birdie.
"After a disappointing last week, I am happy to be back in form. I worked on my short game that was troubling me," said Gupta who is supported by Wilson and the ever-helping hand of Dilip Thomas. "It is a tough course and I always loved playing here," he added.
Harinder Gupta, playing a steady game, parred the first four holes before making successive birdies on the next two. With another birdie on the 11th, he was three-under but an unfortunate bogey on the 15th, cut him down. He also saved some great pars to get home without any further injuries.
Mukesh meanwhile was in all kinds of trouble especially with his putter. After opening with a birdie, the pro from Mhow lost his rhythm while bogeying the fifth, seventh and eighth on the front nine while making a double bogey on the 17th.
"I just could not read the greens today. I have to work on my putting," said Mukesh while hurrying to the practice chipping and putting green.
Top scores (after 36 holes) (Pro): 140 Jyoti Randhawa (71, 69); 142 Ajai Gupta (71,71), Harinder Gupta (71,71); 143 Javed Inayat (70, 73), Matloob Rana (70, 73), Mukesh Kumar (67, 76); 145 Shamim Khan (75, 70), C Muniyappa (73, 72), SSP Chowrasia (71, 74); 146 Gurbaaz Mann (75, 71), Digvijay Singh (74, 72), Sanjay Kumar (73, 73), Karanjit Singh (71, 75); 147 Vishal Singh (77, 70), Amardip Malik (75, 72), Ashok Kumar (73, 74). Amateurs: 162 P Krishna (80, 82); 163 Riad Mahmood (85, 78).
