Karnataka Golf Association's Udayan Mane emerged the clear leader at the end of round 2 after striking a wonderful round of two-under par 69 at the Tata Steel Western India Amateur 2014 being played here at the Par-71 Poona Club Golf Course.
There was a lot of cheer for local lad Umesh Tatkare who shot one under-par round for the day to be placed tied second at a gross score of one-over par 143. He shares this position with overnight clubhouse leader Simarjeet Singh who played a round of three-over par 74 today. Trishul Chinnappa managed to hold on to his fourth place followed by young Prakhar Asawa to complete the top 5.
The joint overnight leader Yashas Chandra of Mysore slipped down the leaderboard after dropping strokes throughout the round and only a solitary birdie. Simarjeet had a rather controlled round but made 3 bogeys on the back nine. Last week's winner Vikram Rana's even-par 71 helped him to be in the contention for the podium places along with another tour veteran, Jasjeet Singh.
Mane, who is playing in familiar surroundings started with two bogeys on the first three holes. He came back with a birdie on the Par-4 5th followed by four straight pars for gross of two-over for the tournament at the turn.
Another par on the 10th helped him gain momentum for the remaining holes as he gained strokes with birdies on 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th holes. A dropped shot on the 17th was his only mistake on the back nine to card two-under par 69 for the day and one-under par for the week.
"I'm certainly happy to be top but the job is still half done. I've improved on the yesterday's score and intend to do the same for the next couple of days," said Udayan, who has his roots in the city.
Top Scores - after 36 holes:
141 Udayan Mane (72,69); 143 Umesh Tatkare (73,70); Simarjeet Singh (69,74); 144 Trishul Chinnappa (71,73); 146 Prakahar Asawa (72,74); 147 Vikram Rana (76,71), Jasjeet Singh (76,71); 148 Feroz Singh Garewal (74,74), Yashas Chandra (69,79); 149 B. R. Raja (75,74); 150 H. S. Kang (74,76), Arjun Sharma (79,71), Rommel Majumdar (74,76), Aman Raj (73,77).
