New Delhi, Mar 25 (Golf News) Veer Ahlawat and Ajeetesh Sandhu played bogey-free rounds of 67 and 68 to take the first and second positions respectively at the midway stage of The DGC Open golf tournament here on Friday.

Ahlawat, looking for his maiden win on the Asian Tour, is nine-under and two clear of Sandhu, who is looking to add to the lone Asian Tour win he had in Chinese Taipei in 2017.

The Gurgaon-based Ahlawat was leading the pack at nine-under par 135 (68-67) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (67-68) climbed into the sole second place at 137.

Gaganjeet Bhullar played his best-ever round at the DGC with a six-under 66 that included five birdies in a row from 13th to 18th after starting on the 10th.

Lying in sole third was Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong (68-70) at six-under 138.

Bhullar (73-66) was tied-fourth with two other Thailand golfers in Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Kasidit Lepkurte as the top six at the USD 500,000 Asian Tour event had three Indians and three Thais.

Sandhu was one of the few to buck the trend of the morning starters dominating the leaderboard with his bogey-free round late in the afternoon. He needed a small slice of luck with a tricky third shot over the greenside bunker on the ninth hole and an up-and-down to keep a clean card.

Ahlawat, who has been looking good on the domestic Tour and also had a good showing when the Asian Tour resumed action, said, "My swing is feeling pretty good so I was confident that if I keep hitting it in the fairway, I'm going to hit good second shots." "That was my plan for today. Just keep it in play – you don't have to get long off the tee, just keep it in play. I started pretty good on the back nine and kept sticking it really close and made five birdies.

"On the front nine, I missed a chip-putt on the first for birdie and after that, I did hit it pretty close. I did save a few par putts like on the seventh where I holed a six-footer and then on the last hole I made a 15-footer for par." Sandhu felt he had left a few shots out on the course but was satisfied with his effort overall.

"I'm happy but I think there were a lot of missed opportunities again, but that's OK. It was tough with the wind. I think you really had be patient, but the greens are excellent. If you miss a putt, you can't really complain about the surface, it's your fault. The course is playing fantastic." Bhullar went on a tear towards the end of his outbound nine, rolling in five birdies in a row after a bogey-birdie swap to turn in five-under 31. He then picked up two further shots but gave one back in a six-under 66 card for the day.

Shiv Kapur survived a difficult second day to sit on level par 144 (71-73) in a tie for 22nd place after coming back from four-over through 10 holes to one-over for the round.

Overnight joint leader Shankar Das was down in shared 12th place at three-under 141 (67-74) after a difficult second day. Australian Travis Smyth struggled in the tougher afternoon conditions as he slipped into a tie for seventh place on four-under 140 (67-73).

Making the cut, which came at five-over par 149, were Indian golf legend Jeev Milkha Singh, former Indian Open winners SSP Chawrasia, Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh and South Africa's Ian Snyman in the 138-strong field.

In all, 67 professionals went through to the money rounds in an event that has seen scores on the higher side on the first two days. None of the amateurs made the cut. 

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News Source : PTI