Mohammad Siddikur finds a striking resemblance between his home course, the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka, and the Delhi Golf Club (DGC).
At his second home, where he won the all-India amateur title in 2004, the Bangladeshi came up with another strong performance to finish as the clubhouse leader when play was suspended due to bad light in the second round of the Indian Open here on Friday.
Siddikur, overnight joint leader with five others, yet again carded a round of six-under 66 to gather a total of 132 and stay two strokes ahead of Thai golfer Chapchai Nirat, who shrugged off a minor health issue for a solid showing.
ADVERTISEMENT
Indian challenger Rahil Gangjee, who was tied for the top spot on the opening day, had managed a 70 with two holes to go when the day’s action came to a halt. At that point, he was four shots away from the leader after bogeying the 16th.
S.S.P. Chowrasia was joint fifth with a four-under for an aggregate of 137. At the same total, Shankar Das, who was tied seventh in the first round, also stayed in contention with an unfinished two-under score.
The day’s action had started an hour-and-a-half late due to poor visibility.
ADVERTISEMENT
Altogether, 26 players are set to resume their second round on Saturday.
Setting the tone
A fine eagle, following a great 12-foot putt, set the tone for Siddikur.
With a spring in his stride, he carried on aggressively and birdied the fifth and seventh before dropping a shot on the ninth.
He stepped up his pace to gain shots from 13th to 15th before bogeying the 16th.
He closed the day with an impressive 20-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th.
Gangjee was frustrated after experiencing a roller-coaster round. A bogey each on the fifth and 16th, where he misread the line twice, somewhat spoiled his effort.
Leading scores:
Unfinished second round: Mohammad Siddikur (Ban) (66, 66) 132; Chapchai Nirat (Tha) (66, 68) 134; Adam Groom (Aus) (69, 67) and Rahil Gangjee (66, 70) 136; Angelo Que (Phi) (69, 68), S.S.P. Chowrasia (69, 68) and Shankar Das (67, 70) 137; Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) (70, 68), Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha) (66, 72), Seuk-Hyun Baek (Kor) (69, 69), Anirban Lahiri (71, 67) and Sanjay Kumar (70, 68) 138; Mardan Mamat (Sin) (66, 73) and Chiragh Kumar (69, 70) 139; Javi Colomo (Esp) (69, 71), Shamim Khan (68, 72), Kwanchai Tannin (Tha) (70, 70), Rashid Khan (69, 71), Jay Baron (Phi) (68, 72), Gi-whan Kim (Kor) (69, 71) and Abhinav Lohan (70, 70) 140.