N Thangaraja moves into halfway lead with a 65 in round two

Bengaluru, Oct 8 (PTI) Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, who had a winner and runner-up finish in the last three PGTI events, continued his fine run with a six-under 65 to move into the halfway lead on day two of the Rs 1 crore Bengaluru Open here on Wednesday.

Thangaraja (66-65), who was overnight tied third and one off the lead, totalled 11-under 131 after 36 holes to hold a one-shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Viraj Madappa (65-67) of Kolkata, the overnight joint leader, fired a 67 in round two to slip one spot to second place at 10-under 132.

Gurugram's Manu Gandas shot a tournament low of 63 to climb 26 spots to third place at nine-under 133.

Nepal's Subash Tamang, the round one joint leader, dropped down to tied fourth at eight-under 134 as a result of his 69 on Wednesday. Subash was joined by Greater Noida's Saptak Talwar (68) in tied fourth.

Reigning champion Abhinav Lohan, who hails from the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, ended day two in tied 11th place at five-under 137.

The highest-placed among the Bengaluru-based players were Manoj S and Mari Muthu R, both of whom occupied tied 13th position at four-under 138.

The cut came down at one-over 143. Fifty professionals and one amateur made the cut.

Noida's Kanav Chauhan was the only amateur to make the cut. He was placed tied 24th at two-under 140.

N Thangaraja, currently third on the PGTI Order of Merit with two wins under his belt this season, had a relatively slow start on the back-nine as he made three birdies including a 30-footer and a tap-in as well as two bogeys.

Thangaraja's round then took flight on the front-nine where he scored six birdies and a bogey. Thanga produced two top-notch bunker shots for birdies on the front-nine.

Viraj Madappa, a winner on the PGTI earlier this year, came up with six birdies on his first 16 holes which included three conversions from a range of 10 to 15 feet. Madappa, however, ended his round with a double-bogey on the 17th. PTI AH AH TAP