April 16, 2016: SSP Chawrasia is at the Open de Espana this week, enduring rough weather in San Roque, Andalucia. The man from Kolkata is 5-over 147 through two rounds (73-74), but scoring at the Real Club Valderamma has been anything but easy under cold and windy conditions. There are just two players under par, with Pablo Larrazabal leading at 3-under and Andrew Johnston in second two shots back. On Friday, the best round was one under 70 by Peter Hanson and Mike Vera-Lorenzo.
The 156th ranked Indian golfer sealed his European Tour credentials with a memorable victory at the Hero Indian Open a few weeks ago. Chawrasia rose twelve spots to T24 despite suffering three bogeys and a double in the second round.
As he did on Thursday, Chawrasia enjoyed just a pair of gainful holes, but every par felt like victory on a painfully laborious day in Spain yesterday.
After making six straight pars on Friday, Chawrasia suffered a double bogey six at the seventh hole. He gained one back straight away when he made birdie at the par-4 8th hole.
On the back nine, Chawrasia sandwiched a birdie at the 13th hole between bogeys at 12 & 14. Another bogey came at the 16th before the 37 year old signed off with a pair evens at the end.
The numbers told the story of the difficulties that Chawrasia faced in signing his three over score of 74. He made just 50% of the fairways (7/14) and only 8 greens in regulation.
Chawrasia is known for his chipping and putting and he needed every ounce of it as he scrambled 7 out of 10 times on the second day of the Open de Espana. He took 28 putts in the second round, improving from the 31 he took on Thursday.
Local hero Larrazabal gained from his 68 in the first round. He only had to shoot even par 71 in the second round to take charge of his national championship, an event he would dearly love to win.
