Pune: C Muniyappa (63-66) of Bangalore continued his domination in round two of the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2014 season being held at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune. Muniyappa’s second round of five-under-66 moved his total score to 13-under-129 and handed him a massive nine-stroke lead. Chandigarh’s K Raghav Bhandari was placed second at four-under-138.
Muniyappa, who equaled the course record with a 63 in round one, came up with a bogey-free 66 on Wednesday to yet again post the day’s best score. The 37-year-old made an excellent recovery from the trees and followed that up with a 20-feet putt for birdie on the third. He holed a 12-footer for birdie on the sixth and found the edge of the green with his drive on the par-4 ninth to set up another birdie.
“I continued to strike it well. I also made some outstanding recoveries and rolled in a couple of long putts. I enjoy a big lead at the moment but need to keep it going in order to build my confidence for the season ahead,” said Muniyappa.
K Raghav Bhandari (66-72) made five birdies against six bogeys in his round of one-over-72 that placed him second with an overall score of four-under-138.
Pravin Pathare of Pune was placed third at two-under-140. Pathare’s second round of 69 featured an eagle on the par-4 10th hole besides three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.
Rahul Bakshi of Chandigarh and Lucknow’s Bhoop Singh shared fourth position at one-under-141.
The cut fell at 12-over-154. The top 80 players made the cut.
At the end of round four on Friday, the top 38 players will earn full cards for the 2014 PGTI season.
