Mukesh leads; course record by Guleria, Ganapathy

Rookie golfer Praduman Guleria carded the first-ever albatross in the history of the Wills Sport Golf Tour, on way to setting a new course record along with Rahul Ganapathy, each returning cards of six-under 66s on an eventful second day of the Rs 850,000 Servo Masters Golf 2000, being played at the par-72 Digboi Club Golf Links, on Thursday.

The earlier course record of five-under 67 was in the name of Harmeet Kahlon, shot during the inaugural tournament last year.

However, the efforts by the rookies failed to dislodge seasoned campaigner Mukesh Kumar from the top of the leaderboard as he continued to lead with a two-day tally of six-under 138. Ganapathy's 66 catapulted him to joint second place along with defending champion Rohtas Singh at five-under 139, while Harmeet Kahlon occupied the fourth spot at four-under 140.

Praduman Guleria and Sanjay Kumar were two strokes behind Kahlon at the joint-fifth spot with two-under 142. Fifty professionals and three amateurs survived the mid-way cut, which was applied at 19-over 163.

Mukesh, gunning for his third successive title on the Tour after winning the ONGC-Noida Golf Club Open and Surya Nepal Masters, might not have hogged the limelight on Thursday but a two-under 70 was enough for him to retain the pole position. Starting from the first tee, Mukesh parred the first three holes before he holed his 9-iron second shot on the par-4 fourth for an eagle two. He then missed a five-feet par putt on the very next hole before birdying the eighth to make the turn at two-under.

The Mhow golfer played the back nine with two birdies and two bogies. "I putted very well today," said last season's 'Player of the Year' award winner after recording 26 putts in his round. "There will be a bit of pressure on me with Rohtas just one stroke away but I am determined to win," he added.

Rahul Ganapathy, who is sponsored by Wills Sport and AVT, did his chances of becoming the Rookie of the Year no harm with a bogey-free card. He made birdies on the third, where he sank a 20 feet putt, seventh and eighth on his front-nine and the 11th, 13th and 16th on his back-nine.

"I played extremely solid golf today. I must give all credit to my coach Brandon de Souza who has helped me develop a great swing," said Ganapathy.

Praduman Guleria was on fire. He started the day with a birdie, following it up with two more birdies and a bogey before a driver followed by a 4-iron resulted in his ball bouncing once on the green and then rolling straight into the hole for a historic albatross on the par-5, 489-yard ninth. Praduman had three birdies and twice dropped shots on his return journey.

"It feels really great to set two records in one day," gushed the Delhiite after the round.

Rohtas, starting from the 10th tee, birdied three holes on his front-nine with a lone bogey on the 15th placing him at a half-way score of two-under. A bogey on the first hole of his return journey, the first, was followed by another bogey and two birdies before an eagle on the seventh ensured a four-under 68 finish for him. "I will play under-par everyday and eventually win," said the confident defending champion.

SCORES (After 36 holes): 138 _ Mukesh Kumar (68,70); 139 _ Rahul Ganapathy (73,66), Rohtas Singh (71,68); 140 _ Harmeet Kahlon (71,69); 142 _ Praduman Guleria (76,66), Sanjay Kumar (72,70); 143 _ Feroz Ali (73,70). SSP Chowrasia (71,72), Shiv Prakash (71,72); 144 _ Gurki Shergill (74,70), Monish Bindra (72,72); Amateurs: 158 _ Ajay Baruah (79,79)