Veer Ahlawat and Aman Raj returned two-round totals of 12-under 132 to emerge joint leaders at the halfway stage of the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship. Raj, who had held the sole lead overnight, carded 67 at the Eagleton Golf Resort on Wednesday while Ahlawat struck a 65 as the pair opened up a one-stroke advantage.
Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi produced the day’s best score of eight-under 64 to lie third at 11-under 133. Gaurav Pratap Singh and Himmat Rai (134) were one shot behind in tied fourth. Shubhankar Sharma, the pre-tournament favourite, followed up his first-round 73 with a steady 71 in round two to occupy the tied 35th place at par-144.
Ahlawat (67-65), who started on the 10th tee, fired five birdies on the back-nine, including four on the trot from the 14th to the 17th. He eventually finished seven-under for the day. “I hit a lot more fairways today as compared to round one,” the Gurgaon pro said later. “I played well for most of the day but had a bad stretch towards the end.”
Raj, meanwhile, made eight birdies and three bogeys. “It was a good day for me except I feel I made a few too many bogeys. My approaches and wedges were good and I was happy with my recovery on the last three holes as I birdied the seventh and ninth,” he said.
Top scores (after round two): 132: Veer Ahlawat (67, 65), Aman Raj (65, 67); 133: Khalin Joshi (69, 64); 134: Gaurav Pratap Singh (70, 64), Himmat Rai (68, 66); 135: Akshay Sharma (68, 67), Mari Muthu (68, 67), Udayan Mane (68, 67); 136: O.P. Chouhan (68, 68), S. Chikkarangappa (67, 69).
