Pune, Oct 2 Kartik Singh, who has been knocking on the doors of victory over the past month, arrived at the doorstep once again at the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Invitational Pune. He did so with a sensational bogey-free eight under 63 that carried him to 11-under for two rounds and put him in the pole position ahead of the final round at the Poona Golf Course.
Kartik, who led after two rounds even in the IGPL Invitational NCR, held a two-shot lead which at one point looked like it would be much bigger. But Kapil Kumar brought in four birdies on the home stretch. Kapil was also bogey-free and carded 6-under to get to 9-under.
Kartik, who was in blistering form, stayed focused as he found the fairways unerringly. “If you are in the fairways, there is always a birdie chance,” said the 15-year-old Kartik.
That held for others, too, as the second Kapil Kumar added, “I stayed patient and things began to work for me on the back nine. I found most of the fairways. I had four birdies on the back nine, and that helped me stay in touch.”
Kartik started on the second hole in the shotgun start, and he got off to a fast start with birdies on the third and the fourth and added an eagle on he seventh. “The seventh is a short Par-5. I had a good shot off the tee and hit the second, with a 6-Iron, to 10 feet and holed the putt,” said Kartik, making it sound like a walk in the park.
He added four more birdies on the back nine of the Poona Golf Course. He birdied the 11th, 12th, 14th, and the 17th, but felt a little disappointed with just a par on the Par-5 18th, which was his second last hole.
Kartik was pleased with his course management and said, “Often, there is no need to get the driver out. I focused on finding the fairways, and it was rewarding. I may have left a birdie out on the last couple of holes. But 8-under was good, though my best is 9-under in Thailand.”
On his final day plan, he added, “The key is to do the same and keep the focus.”
Icon player Gaurav Ghei, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, was impressed once again with Kartik and said, “To shoot 8-under any day is brilliant, but for a 15-year-old to do that is just amazing. He has been so consistent, and he has just turned professional. He has a great future.”
Overnight co-leader Sunhit Bishnoi (68) was 7-under and sole third, while the other overnight co-leader, Pukhraj Singh Gill (70), was tied for fourth with veteran Ranjit Singh (68), the highly consistent Sachin Baisoya (69), and young Saarthak Chibber (69), who is finally finding his feet.
Sneha Singh (68) was the leading lady, a 3-under at Tied-10th.
Sunhit Bishnoi, who has been playing consistently, was also pleased with his play, though he dropped an early bogey on the second after starting from the first. He birdied the seventh and ninth and turned in 1-under. He added back-to-back birdies on the 12th and the 13th but dropped a second bogey on the 15th before closing with a birdie.
“It is a question of staying in the fairways, because the rough can be tough,” said the smiling Bishnoi, whose sister, Gaurika, is an established professional on the Women’s Professional Golf Tour of India.
Aman Raj (65), with seven birdies against one solitary bogey, repaired some of the damage from the first round and was tied eighth with Yashas Chandra (68) at 4-under 138, which was seven shots behind the leader. However, with the course handsomely rewarding the fairway finders, they are all in with a chance of making a bid for better positioning on the final day.
Sneha Singh, who started on the seventh in the shotgun start, parred the first five holes, and then had three birdies in a row. A bogey on the 17th was followed by a bogey on the 18th, but she made up with a birdie on the third. She had a late bogey on the fifth, but still stayed inside the Top-10 alongside IL Aalaap (69), young Raghav Chugh (70), Harshjeet Singh Sethie (70), and Shaurya Binu (69) at 3-under 139 for two days.
Ananya Garg (70) at T-15, Hitaashee Bakshi (74) at T-19th, and Ridhima Dilawari (75) at T-24th were the other top women on the leaderboard.
For the women, the event is a big tune-up for the upcoming Hero Women’s Indian Open next week.
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