Feroz jumps to 3rd place, Mane in lead on Day 2

Tribune News Service

Feroz Singh Garewal scored the best card of six-under 66 to jump 23 places to tied-third position on the second day of the BTI Open 2017 at the Kurmitola Golf Club (KGC) in Dhaka today.  

The 19-year-old, who was languishing at tied-27th at the close of the opening round, started the day with aplomb as he carded four successive birdies, beginning with the second hole, to move up the chart. 

Garewal saved yet another shot on the ninth to cap the front nine at five-under. On his return, the youngster was more careful as he shot at par. His only birdie in the back nine came at the 13th hole as he ended the second round with a total card of five-under 139 to be tied with another city golfer Harendra Gupta. 

After carding a two-under in the opening round, Gupta improved his play to shot a three-under 69 on the second day to move up three places.  

The duo lies a couple of shots behind second day leader Udayan Mane, who shot a five-under in the second round, to finish with a total card of seven-under 137.

Lying in sixth place yesterday, Mane started the day with a birdie, but followed it with a bogey to lose the initial advantage. He though made the amends immediately, saving a shot on the third to end the front nine at one-under. 

On his return, Mane carded four birdies — 10th, 14th, 17th and 18th — to end the day at five-under 67. 

Mane was followed by Khalin Joshi at six-under 138. The Bengaluru golfer carded two bogeys and two birdies while going out, but improved his scoring in the back nine with birdies on the 10th, 14th and 17th holes. 

Mane, the 2015 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, said: "After a terrific rookie season in 2015 where I won two events, I think I expected a bit too much from myself in the following season. I did have a decent 2016, but not as per my expectations. I see the past year as a learning curve and am now just working at getting the process and the basics right without thinking too much about the results. I'm just looking to improve in all aspects of the game. That's the new approach I have for this season."    

Ajeetesh Sandhu, meanwhile, moved to tied-13th place after carding one-under 71. 

Sandhu, who is currently leading the Order of Merit, would have liked to finish at a much better position at the half-way stage but some erratic play meant that he had to content with the tied-13th spot. 

Sandhu dropped a shot on the second but made amends with an eagle on the following hole. He saved another shot on the fifth to end the front nine at two-under. 

The youngster though was more cautious in his approach on the return as he managed par conversion with a bogey on 15th to finish with a total card of one-under 143. 

Giving him company was Chandigarh's Sujjan Singh, who scored a birdie and bogey apiece before saving shots on the 10th and 12th holes on his return. Another bogey on the 15th meant that Sujjan was bunched with Sandhu and four other golfers at 143. 

Overnight leader Mohammad Sanju, meanwhile, had a poor run in the second round as he managed a one-over to finish in tied-fifth place with Delhi's Rashid Khan, who also slipped a couple of places down.