Khalin Joshi best Indian in Jakarta

Edited by Anand Datla

April 24, 2015: After a day of brutal carnage at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club, all but three Indians were shipped out of the tournament at the halfway stage of the Indonesian Masters. With gusty winds turning playing golf into a hazardous adventure, barely seven golfers managed to stay under par. Only half the Indian contingent survived the knife, while five golfers failed to make the weekend. Khalin Joshi was the best among Indians, lying T21 at 3-over 147. The lead is at 4-under, in the bag of Unho Park, who made a none too impressive 73 in the second round.

The best effort on the day came from Kalem Richardson who shot a 70, including four birdies and two bogeys. YE Yang shot a 71 that consisted of four birdies and three bogeys, climbing to T8 at an even par 144.

Among the Indians, Khalin’s effort to produce ten straight pars under demanding conditions was the most notable performance. The young golfer suffered two straight bogeys to open his round before bleeding again at the 5th and 6th holes, where he gave away three more shots.

But after a par at the seventh and a birdie at the 8th hole, he was back to steering his ship to safety by making eleven pars and one birdie through his last 12 holes of the round.

Rashid Khan slipped to T30 after he suffered a 7-over 79 in the second round. Khan was looking for a good outing in Indonesia and a 69 in the first round gave hopes for a good showing. On Friday though, Khan endured seven bogeys and a double besides two birdies to get through the halfway stage at 4-over 148.

After a 67 on Thursday, Abhijit Chadha was left tending to his bruised card on Friday. He suffered nine bogeys and a double bogey in his round of 82, leaving him at 5-over 149.

Chiragh Kumar at 6-over and Angad Cheema at 7-over are the other two golfers to have made the cut. Rahil Gangjee (78-74), Gaganjeet Bhullar (75-77), S Chikkarangappa (78-76), Himmat Rai (72-82) and Arjun Atwal (78-83) missed the cut to reduce the Indian contingent to half for the weekend.