December 18, 2015: A second straight 65 helped Amardip Sinh Malik to snatch the lead from the overnight leader Abhishek Jha and a fluent Vinod Kumar at the halfway stage of 14th Tata Open. Malik remained bogey free for the second day running as he gained a one shot lead over Jha and Kumar with his 36 hole score of 12-under 130.
Malik took his tally of birdies to ten over two rounds, cushioning his score with an eagle at the par-4 12th hole. Malik made four birdies and an eagle on Friday. (Read more in Golf)
Jha was slow off the blocks, stuttering at the second hole to concede a bogey. But he recovered quickly to score back to back birdies at the next two holes. Eventually he made 68 to go 11-under through 36 holes.
Vinod Kumar held the clubhouse lead for much of the day, before Malik overhauled him late in the afternoon session at the Golmuri Golf Club. Kumar made nine birdies and three bogeys in his second round 65 to add to the 66 he made on Thursday.
But for a bogey at the final hole, C Muniyappa had a brilliant round, fueled by four birdies and an eagle at the third hole for his 66. He was lying T4 with Feroz Ali Mollah.
Mollah kept a clean sheet on Friday, in his matching effort of 66. He made two birdies on the front before adding three more on the return stretch for his nine-under total of 133.
Abhinav Lohan, Om Prakash Chouhan and R Murthy were all tied up in the sixth spot at 8-under 134. Lohan added a 69 to the 65 he made on Thursday while Chouhan made 65 to a 67 from Murthy.
Angad Cheema, Vikrant Chopra, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan and Sujjan Singh rounded off the top ten at this 14th edition of the Tata Open in Jamshedpur.
With the weather playing truant, the second round remained incomplete. A handful of golfers will return in the morning on Saturday to complete their sheets. The cut is projected to fall at 2-over 144 leaving approximately 55 or so golfers to chase glory over the weekend.
