Viraj shoots five-under to grab lead at IGU UP Juniors

Kolkata lad Viraj Madappa shot a brilliant five-under 66 to grab a four-shot lead at the end of the second round of the IGU Uttar Pradesh Juniors at the Noida Golf Course here today.
Viraj's two-day total stood at 139.
Feroz Singh Garewal returned a card of level par-71 to be placed second at 145.
Yuvraj Sandhu and Jairaj Singh Sandhu shared the third place at 149, while Kartikey Vashist and Pukhraj Singh Gill were tied for fifth at 152.
In the other category, it was Tanvir Kahlon who took a two-shot lead with a 36-hole total of 153 after he shot a round of three-over par 74.

Udayjit Bhalotia was second at 155, while Karandeep Kochhar was third at 156. Hassan Rahman was fourth at 157 and Jaiveer Singh was fifth at 158.

Viraj opened his account with a birdie on the opening hole and played some steady golf until he hit a road block where he lost a shot each on the sixth and seventh hole.
However, he quickly made amends with back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to take the turn at 1-under.
Viraj was on fire on the back nine as he not only saved pars but went on to make two pairs of birdies each on the 12th and 13th and on 16th and 17th to submit a card of 5-under-67.

"After the first round, I realised my mistakes and worked on them as this course is a thinking course. Everything went according to the script today except on a couple of holes. My hitting and putting both were excellent," said the leader.
"I intend to build on the lead and see if I can win the tournament," he added.