A five-under 67 in the second round took S. Chikkarangappa to the top of the pile in the TAKE Open golf championship, at the KGA course here on Thursday.
Chikkarangappa (eight-under 136 overall) shares the lead with Sujjan Singh, who shot a two-under 70.
Shubhankar Sharma, second on the PGTI Order of Merit list, lies one stroke behind the toppers.
Amateur Jaibir Singh, Rahil Gangjee, Sri Lankan Anura Rohana and Abhijit Singh Chadha (all six-under overall) are in joint fourth spot.
Chikkarangappa — three shots off the pace after the first round — was not at his best, but fought his way into contention.
He went two-under in the first six holes, and made par in the next six.
The Bengaluru lad got going in the 14th, sinking a 20-feet putt for a birdie. Two more birdies followed, which helped him finish on a high.
“It’s not easy to read the greens, so I was struggling to make putts in the first half. Sometimes you need a little luck,” Chikkarangappa said.
Sujjan, the overnight leader, had a quiet day. He was at three-under in his first 13 holes, before a bogey on the par-5 14th spoilt his score. Chadha, who started the day in pole position, went off the boil with an even-par return.
The scores (top eight):
136: S. Chikkarangappa (69, 67), Sujjan Singh (66, 70); 137: Shubhankar Sharma (68, 69).
138: Abhijit Singh Chadha (66, 72), Anura Rohana (72, 66), Rahil Gangjee (68, 70), Jaibir Singh (A) 69, 69.
139: Samarth Dwivedi (70, 69) Jyoti Randhawa (69, 70), Gaurav Pratap (67, 72), Amardip Sinh Malik (68, 71), Chiragh Kumar (70, 69), Feroz Ali(69, 70).
