Rahil Gangjee rode on a hot putter and accurate drives to shoot a four-under-par 68 and maintain a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the $300,000 Panasonic Open in New Delhi on Friday.
The Indian finished two rounds of the Asian Tour event at 10-under-par 134, two strokes ahead of defending champion Wade Ormsby of Australia, who rolled in five birdies to stay in the hunt with a 68.
Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka, Australian Terry Pilkadaris and popular Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman were tied in third place at 137, along with Indian amateur Pratap Atwal, a the nephew of Indian star Arjun Atwal.
"You can't take anything lightly on this course, no matter how much you are leading by," Gangjee said about the challenging par-72 Delhi Golf Club.
"Anything can happen but you can really go low on this course if you are hitting well, which I am doing at the moment."
Ormsby said he needed to putt better over the weekend if he was to retain the title he won last year.
"I'm hitting the ball a lot better than last year and that takes a lot of pressure off you when you play on this course," Ormsby said. "If I can putt better, then I should be okay for the weekend."
Leading scores after the second round at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club:
134 - Rahil Gangjee (IND) 66-68.
136 - Wade Ormsby (AUS) 68-68.
137 - Mithun Perera (SRI) 70-67, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 69-68, Pratap Atwal (amateur, IND) 69-68, Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 70-67.
138 - Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 70-68, Rashid Khan (IND) 68-70, Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 73-65.
Source: AFP
