Colombo, Dec 24 (IANS) Aryan Roopa Anand grinded it out after a rocky start that saw him drop two bogeys in the first four holes on the second day of the IGPL Invitational Sri Lanka, the final event of the inaugural season of the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Tour.
Overnight leader Aryan stayed in the lead at 11-under with local amateur Kaya Daluwatte and India’s seasoned SSP Chawrasia tied second at 10-under, while Jeev Milkha Singh, four times winner on the European and Japan Tours, was fourth.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-67), winner of 11 Asian Tour titles, the most by any Indian, was tied fifth with former Asian Tour winner, Chiragh Kumar (71-63), IGPL’s Order of Merit contender, Aman Raj (66-68) and rookie pro, Veer Ganapathy (67-67). They were 8-under after 36 holes.
Chiragh had the day’s best card of 8-under 63, which included four birdies in a row from the fifth to the eighth and then four more in the last seven holes. Overall, he had nine birdies and one bogey. “That was the best I have played in a long time, since trying to come back from a series of serious injuries,” said Chiragh.
The winner of IGPL UAE, Karandeep Kochhar (68), was ninth but only four shots behind the leader on a course where big leads can disappear fast. He could well be the dark horse as he is coming off a win in Dubai and had earlier won an ADT event in Egypt. He also has his Asian Tour card sewn up.
As the final IGPL event moved towards the last day of the first season, the leaderboard was a mix of youth and experience, with just three shots separating the top eight players at the iconic Royal Colombo Golf Club, one of the oldest courses in the world. Kochhar is placed ninth.
Aryan (69) got over his early bogeys to birdie the 18th to shoot 2-under. He did well to shrug off the earlier lapses and added four birdies while keeping any more bogeys off the card. It kept him in sole lead for the second straight day. He birdied the seventh, 12th, 15th, and 18th. Local amateur Kaya Daluwatte (67) kept building on a brilliant season on the international amateur circuit, which included wins in Thailand, a second place in the Faldo Series in the UAE, and a third place in the UAE at the Robert Rock Junior Golf tournament.
The local favourite for all spectators, Kaya shared the second spot with four-time DP World Tour winner SSP Chawrasia (66). Kaya had an unfortunate triple bogey on the 17th when her tee shot hit a tree, and she went into the bunker and erred further. Kaya and Chawrasia were one behind Aryan.
Chawrasia was trying to snare his first win on the IGPL series and said, “It’s been a long time since I won, and it would be nice to have one of those lovely IGPL Trophies sitting alongside my European, Asian, and other pro wins in India.”
Lying fourth was the legendary Jeev Milkha Singh, India’s most successful golfer ever, who wants to add the IGPL Sri Lanka title to his string of wins around the world. Despite not a single birdie putt dropping in the last hole, Jeev was two behind the leader.
“Even though I was focused on my game and trying to hole putts, which I just could not, I was amazed by Kaya’s play. She was so solid and mature. She may know the course well and has won many titles here, but to score 6-under and 4-under in such a strong event is fantastic for a 17-year-old,” said an impressed Jeev.
Kaya has won everything there is to win in Sri Lankan amateur golf, and her pictures adorn the hallway at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. She is also the first Sri Lankan to win a medal in the recent Asian Youth Games.
Playing in a format that received a thumbs up from two of the South Asian legends, Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa, the youth soaked in all they could by watching the superstars of the region.
Randhawa reiterated what Jeev said a day earlier, “The young stars, including my own son, Zoravar, Jeev’s son Harjai and Rahul Ganapathy’s son, Veer, and many others like Kaya Daluwatte, a talented amateur from Sri Lanka, had a great day at the course, which became a golf classroom of sorts.”
While Veer Ganapathy was in the top five, Jyoti Randhawa’s son, Zoravar, outscored his father for the second day running. Zoravar (71-67) is now 4-under and T-12, while the father with 71-70 is three shots behind in T-31st place.
Jeev’s son, amateur Harjai (67), shot better than his father’s 2-under in the second round. Harjai (74-67) is now 1-under and Tied-23rd.
–IANS
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