Caddy boys followed their hero, S Madaiah, as he went on a birdie spree, sinking six of them. Though he ended the day at two-under 70, a level-par first round ensured that the local pro shared lead with veteran Shiv Prakash and Vijay Kumar, who both returned cards of one-over 73 each.
The trio, with a two-day total of two-under 142, led the quality field at the end of the second round in the Hero Honda Open South, the fourth leg of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, at the Karnataka Golf Association on Wednesday.
The competition got stiffer as five others, Gaurav Ghei, Mukesh Kumar, Digvijay Singh, Arjun Singh and Ajay Gupta, trail the leaders by a solitary stroke.
Ashok Kumar, with a level par 144, is in sole ninth position.
As many as 50 professionals made it to the money-making rounds after the cut was applied at nine-over 153.
Chennai's Gurunath Meiyappan was the lone amateur to make the pro cut. Binod Pandey, who had a hole-in-one on the first day, missed the cut along with veterans Rohtas Singh and Pappan.
Meanwhile, debutant Gurbaaz Maan fired six birdies for a three-under par 69 to record the day's best score.
Madaiah, who knows every blade of grass at the KGA, began with a birdie on the third while also holing a 15-footer on the eighth. The 22-year-old began his return journey in whirlwind fashion, making a quartet of birdies, the longest being a chip-in from 20 yards on the par-3 13. Earlier, he holed a 25-footer on the 10th.
A bad drive on the 14th, where he hooked in into the rough and later missed a 7-feet par putt, ending in a bogey.
His other bogeys came on the fifth, where he found water on the right off his tee shot and missed two small putts on the seventh and 17th.
"I putted exceptionally well. The course is playing a little long. It is too hard to say about my chances, but I will give me best," said Madaiah, who had finished joint-second at the Cotton City Open in Coimbatore recenlty.
Defending champion Vijay Kumar, who had a 69 on the opening day, found the greens in regulation often, but ran into bad luck while sinking them. Making only two birdies on the 16th and second after beginning from the 10th, Vijay double bogeyed the 18th after hitting into the trees on the left. Chipping out, he was well short of the green and missed a five-foot par putt. Also he three-putted the seventh for another bogey.
Much was expected from Arjun Singh, who is fresh from the victory at the TNGF-KONE Open in Chennai. The pro from Delhi who leads the Order of Merit in the current season, went over the green on the par-4 sixth with his second shot and chipped-in for his second consecutive birdie. The 34-year-old made two more birdies on the 10th and 12th before three-putting the 13th for a bogey.
"It was a good round. I was hitting well though the ball picked up mud due to the soggy conditions here. It's only my putting that has let me down," said Arjun, who had 31 putts for the day.
Top scores (after 36 holes)
Pros: 142_Vijay Kumar (69,73), S Madaiah (72,70), Shiv Prakash (69,73); 143_Gaurav Ghei (71,72), Mukesh Kumar (70,73), Digvijay Singh (69,74), Arjun Singh (73,70), Ajay Gupta (71,72); 144_Ashok Kumar (73,71); 145_Amritinder Singh (75,70), Amandeep Johl (74,71), Gurbaaz Mann (76,69), Anura Rohana (75,70), Uttam Singh Mundy (73,72).
Amateurs: Gurunath (76,76); 155_Abhishek Ahlawat (80,75).
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