02 March 2022: Ankur Chadha (35-33) of Gurugram and Lucknow’s Sanjeev Kumar (35-33) shared the honours on day two of the Glade One Masters 2022 as the duo led the field at a total of four-under 68.
Both Ankur and Sanjeev, lying overnight tied ninth, came up with the day’s lowest score of three-under 33 at the Glade One Resort & Club to lead by one shot over Noida’s Amardeep Malik (35-34) and Aditya Raj Kumar Chauhan (33-36) of Delhi, who were both tied third.
The first two rounds of the event comprised nine holes each. After the completion of 18 holes on Wednesday, the cut was applied at three-over 75. Fifty-three professionals made the cut.
The third and fourth rounds will now comprise 18 holes each. The tournament will be played over a total of 54 holes. The par for the course in the first two rounds was 36.
Ankur Chadha, fresh from his best season on the PGTI last year when he finished inside the top-30 of the Order of Merit, has carried forward the momentum this week. The 27-year-old Chadha’s second round featured a 12-feet birdie conversion on the first hole, another birdie on the fifth, a great par save from the hazard on the sixth and a 20-feet birdie conversion on the closing ninth hole.
Ankur said, “It’s been a solid first two days for me except for just one unforced error in round one. I’ve been nursing a wrist injury so this is my first event of the season and it’s good to begin the year on a positive note.”
Sanjeev Kumar endured a poor start as he was two-over after four holes. However, his putter was on fire from the fifth hole onwards as he sank birdies all the way till the end making five conversions from a range of 15 to 30 feet.
Sanjeev said, “I didn’t lose heart despite the bad start. I knew it was a matter of just one birdie that could turn things around for me. The confidence just kept growing after my first birdie on the fifth where I sank a 15-footer.”
Amardeep Malik picked up early birdies on the first and third. Malik recovered well on the first hole with a great second shot from the bunker that landed within inches of the hole. He hit it close once again on the third.
Aditya Raj Kumar Chauhan, who was overnight second, made bogey-birdie on the first two holes to keep himself in contention for the second day running.
The five players bunched in tied fifth at 70 were Ravi Kumar, Vinay Kumar Yadav, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Manu Gandas and Harsh Gangwar.
Among the Gujarat-based golfers, two players Varun Parikh and Anshul Patel made the cut. Varun was tied 28th at 73 and Anshul was tied 46th at 75.