Rashid pulls ahead by three shots after 62 in round two of CG Open

Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan's class act of eight-under-62 in round two of the PGTI's CG Open helped him pull ahead of the rest by three shots here Thursday.

The Delhi golfer, who produced a sensational run of six straight birdies during his error-free round at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC), now has a total of 10-under-130.

Australian Kunal Bhasin, a former CG Open champion and resident of Mumbai, carded a 67 to end the day in tied second at seven-under-133 along with Lucknow's Sanjeev Kumar (69) at the Rs. 1 crore event.

The cut was declared at three-over-143. Fifty professionals and one amateur made the cut for the money rounds.

Rashid Khan (68-62), lying overnight tied 11th, took a flight to the top of the leaderboard on day two riding on his good putting form. Khan, a two-time runner-up at the CG Open, set the course on fire with birdies on his first six holes sinking putts from 15 to 25 feet on three occasions.

The 27-year-old Rashid, fresh from a top-10 in Bengaluru last week, picked up two more birdies on the back-nine including one from 25 feet to stake his claim for the title this week.

Rashid said, "I've been striking the ball well but was struggling with my putting till last week in Bengaluru. I tried a few things and managed to fix my putting during the Bengaluru event that also helped me put up some good scores there including a 67."
Bhasin, who had withdrawn from last week's event in Bengaluru due to a back spasm, said, "I'm still a little stiff and restricted in my swing due to the back spasm and that's the reason I've changed my set up and am playing with an open stance. Nonetheless, I've not felt this good about my game in a while."