16-year-old Kartik takes three-shot lead in IGPL Delhi NCR

Greater Noida, Sep 18 (PTI) Kartik Singh was on the threshold of a milestone in his young career as he grabbed a three-shot lead over a starry field at the IGPL Invitational Delhi NCR hosted by Gaurav Ghei here on Thursday.

The 16-year-old, who finished eighth on his professional debut last week in Chandigarh, added a 3-under 67 on a course which was played to Par-70 in the second round.

Hole four was played as a Par-3 instead of Par 5 because of excessive rain and waterlogging. So, the Par for the Jaypee Greens course came down to 70 and par for the first two rounds was 142 (72-70).

Kartik had a first round 68 (-4) and he added a 3-under 67 to get to seven-under 135 in only his second professional event.

Winner of multiple titles on the junior and amateur circuit, Kartik was within hand-shaking distance of a pro win, which will be worth Rs. 22.50 lakh. He was three shots clear of the experienced Karandeep Kochhar (70-68) at 4-under 138 and the long-hitting Pukhraj Singh Gill (72-66).

Gaganjeet Bhullar, winner of the inaugural IGPL Invitational in Chandigarh last week, added an even par 70 to his first round 2-under 70 and was 2-under 140. He was tied fourth alongside Kartik Sharma (70-70), Veer Ganapathy (69-71) and Raghav Chugh (72-68).

Four players, the three-time Asian Tour winner, Shiv Kapur (73-68), IL Aalaap (69-71), Syed Saqib Ahmed (74-67) and Sunhit Bishnoi (73-68) were all at 1-under 141 and in Tied-eighth place.

Teen prodigy Kartik once again opened with a bogey, but again he quickly recovered with a birdie on the Par-5 second. Two more birdies on the fifth and the seventh against another bogey on the ninth saw him turn in 1-under.

He played steady on the back nine with birdies on the tenth, 14th and the 15th but gave back a shot on the 16th for a 2-under back nine and a total of 3-under. PTI BS AH AH