Akshay takes lead on Day 2 in Mumbai

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7

City golfer Akshay Sharma’s dream season continued as he carded a 6-under 64 to take a one-shot lead on the second day of the CG Open 2017 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai today.

Sharma with a total of 9-under 131 is one shot clear of second placed Viraj Madappa (64) of Kolkata and Ahmedabad-based Udayan Mane (65), the PGTI Order of Merit leader.

Sharma (67-64), who had two top-five finishes so far this year to be placed at career-high 18th on the money list, produced another standout performance as he mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to climb from tied-ninth into the lead.

“It’s been a fantastic season for me so far and I believe to make it better with a good finish here,” Sharma said after the day’s play.

“I hit 14 greens in regulation today and did well on the pars with birdies on three of them. A 30-feet birdie conversion on the 15th really lifted my confidence. But the highlight of the round was the chip-in from the bunker on the third.

“I’ve drawn inspiration from my third place finish in Chandigarh two months back. I now have a solid foundation ahead of the last two days and would like to capitalise on it,” he pointed.

Madappa (68-64) made a gain of 18 places from his overnight position of tied 20th after an error-free round of 64.

Interestingly, the Kolkata golfer is currently a close second behind another city lad Karandeep Kochhar in the PGTI Emerging Player of the Year race, a contest that promises to go down to the wire.

“I salvaged a birdie with a long putt on the 18th despite being in the trees after my first shot there. I am happy with the way I’ve played this week,” said Madappa.

Mane (67-65) shared the second spot with Madappa after signing off the day at 65. He climbed seven places from his overnight tied-ninth.

Opening round leader Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka slipped to tied-fourth place at 7-under 133 after a second round of 69.

Defending champion Shamim Khan of Delhi, Sanjeev Kumar, M Dharma, Mohammad Sanju and Veer Ahlawat were bunched together with Perera in the fourth place.

Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane (70) dropped 10 places from overnight tied-second at 5-under 135. The cut went at 1-over 141 and 61 professionals made it to the last two rounds.