The second edition of the Rs 1.5 million Tata Open is poised for exciting finish as overnight leader Feroz Ali maintained a grim lead of a solitary stroke over Vijay Kumar at the end of the second round at the Beldih and Golmuri Club courses, in Jamshedpur on Friday.
Kolkata pros Indrajit Bhalotia and SSP Chowrasia also remained in the hunt with a two-day total of five-under 137 along with Sanjay Kumar from Lucknow, who shares the third position.
As many as 51 professionals made it to the weekend rounds after the cut was applied at six-over par 148.
Feroz Ali, who had set a course record of six-under 66 at the par-72 Beldih course on the opening day, failed to take advantage of a relatively easy Golmuri Course. Making his first birdie on the par-4 second, the 34-year-old pro from Kolkata made three more birdies on the seventh, 11th and 13th.
However, he dropped a stroke each on the par-3 15th and the par-5 16th to lose the advantage.
"I still cannot figure out what went wrong. I thought I was playing petty well except on couple of holes where I missed birdies from small distance," said the Kolkatan, who made 30 putts today.
Teeing off at the Beldih course, Vijay Kumar made four birdies and an eagle. If it hadn't been for the short putts that he missed, the Lucknow pro could have avoided the four bogeys. After a birdie on the third, the stocky golfer made consecutive bogeys on the next two holes. However, he made amends on the seventh hole. With a driver-driver approach, he chipped-in from 20 yards on the par-5 591-yard hole. A couple of bogeys on the eighth and 10th did hamper his round but successive birdies on the next two holes and another on the 16th saw the former Indian Open champion stay in second position.
Meanwhile, Indrajit Bhalotia who has come back from an injury, was modest in saying that he had lost touch with his long drives. He drove so long that one of his playing partner and his student - Navtez was found 100 yards short on every hole! In fact he drove the 319-yard 11th green and narrowly missed an eagle.
Apart from that the Reebok-sponsored pro had five more birdies (1st, 6th, 10th, 12th, 16th) all by his good hitting. However, it was his putting that let him down. A three-putt on the third from right feet resulted in a bogey and similarly bogeyed the par-5 seventh.
SSP Chowrasia, who won the NGC Open last week, opened with a bogey on the par-3 third. However, he was quick to recoup with a hat-trick of birdies starting from the third, a resultant of his brilliant iron-play. The diminutive pro added two more birdies. A missed chip and putt on the par-3 17th resulted in a bogey.
"I could not get my short game right today. I think a two-stroke lead in these conditions is not enough," said Chowrasia after making 29 putts in his round.
Scores (after 36 holes): 134_Feroz Ali (66, 68); 135_Vijay Kumar (65,70); 137_Indrajit Bhalotia (71,66), SSP Chowrasia (68,69), Sanjay Kumar (69,68); 138_Mukesh Kumar (67,71), Roop Singh (65,73), Vikramjit Singh (67,71); 139_Ranjit Singh (71,68), Amit Dube (67,72), 140_Ashok Kumar (74,66), Shiv Prakash (69,71).
Amateurs: 155_Karan Taunk (79,76); 156_Navtez (78,78).
