PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Dec 23: Mohd Azhar from Vikarabad, Telangana, shot a second round of five-under 67 to surge into the halfway lead at the Rs 3 crore Tata Steel Tour Championship 2022, the Tata Steel PGTI’s season-ending event being played at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf Courses in Jamshedpur.
The 23-year-old Azhar, who hails from the Vooty Golf County and is playing only his second season as a professional, totalled 12-under 132 for two days to move up two spots from his overnight third position and enjoyed a one-shot advantage over the rest of the field till Thursday evening.
Shiv Kapur (69), a four-time Asian Tour winner, carded a 69 to be placed tied second along with Delhi’s Kapil Kumar (70) at 11-under 133.
The first two rounds of the richest event on the PGTI saw one half of the field play their first nine holes at Golmuri Golf Course and the second nine at Beldih Golf Course while the other half of the field played Beldih first followed by Golmuri.
This format will also be followed for the next two rounds of the tournament in Jamshedpur with the par for the round being 72. The leading groups will start at Golmuri and finish at Beldih.
Mohd Azhar (65-67), currently 53rd in the Tata Steel PGTI Rankings with one top-10 this season, kept firing it close to the pins during his whirlwind front-nine that featured an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys. Azhar, who turned professional in 2020, landed it within five feet on five occasions on the front-nine.
Shiv Kapur (64-69), lying overnight second, stayed in touch with the lead after a round that featured six birdies and three bogeys.
Kapil Kumar (63-70), the first-round leader, dropped one spot to join Kapur in tied second. Kapil came up with four birdies and a double-bogey on Thursday.
TATA Steel PGTI Rankings leader Manu Gandas returned a 68 to be tied fourth at 10-under 134 along with Karandeep Kochhar (67) and Kartik Sharma (67).
The two Jamshedpur-based professionals, Karan Taunk (one-over 145) and Kurush Heerjee (three-over 147) were placed tied 48th and tied 57th respectively.
