Manu Gandas takes halfway lead at Glade One Masters golf tournament

Manu Gandas produced a bogey-free six-under-30 on the back of five straight birdies in the second round to take the halfway lead at the Glade One Masters golf tournament here on Wednesday.

Gandas, searching for his maiden win on the PGTI, seized the halfway lead at seven-under-65. Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (34-32) of Chandigarh was a close second at six-under-66 after he shot an impressive four-under-32.

Four players -- Bengalureans Khalin Joshi (34) and Trishul Chinnappa (34), Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan (34) and Om Prakash Chouhan (33) of Mhow -- were bunched together in tied third place with totals of four-under-68.

The cut was applied at two-over-74. Fiftysix professionals made the cut.

The tournament, to be played over 54 holes, has a unique format. The first two rounds consisted of nine holes each. The cut was applied after 18 holes. The third and fourth rounds will now comprise 18 holes each.

Gandas produced five straight birdies from the second to the sixth, thanks largely to a hot putter since he sank three birdie putts from a range of 12 to 20 feet on the stretch.

He also had two quality up and downs during this phase on the second and fifth. Gandas finally signed off with another 15-feet birdie conversion on the ninth. He zoomed to the top, gaining eight places from his overnight tied ninth.

Gandas, who began the day two behind the lead, said, 'I've had two top-10s since the resumption of the tour in November last year so the game is in good shape. My much-improved ball-striking can be credited for this consistent run."

Sandhu, the 2019 PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion, had an edgy start as he bogeyed the first with a missed up and down. Lying tied third and one off the lead after round one, he continued to miss opportunities over the next few holes as his 10-feet putts for birdie didn't find the hole on the second, third and fourth.

Sandhu's fortunes changed from the fifth onward where he chipped-in for eagle from 20 yards. He sank two long birdies on the sixth and seventh from 10 to 20 feet.

Abhinav Lohan holed out from 106 yards for his eagle-two on the third during his round of 34.

C Muniyappa of Bengaluru had a hole-in-one on the seventh during his round of 33 that placed him tied eighth at two-under-70.

Round one joint leaders M Dharma (38) of Bengaluru and Anshul Patel (41) of Ahmedabad slipped to tied 14th at one-under-71 and tied 43rd at two-over-74 respectively.

The other two Ahmedabad-based professionals who made the cut were Shravan Desai and Jay Pandya, both tied 28th at one-over-73.