Rajesh Chowdhary leads Hyundai-MGC Open

Rajesh Chowdhary of Mhow, playing the Hero Honda Golf Tour on a physically handicapped exemption, scored a huge point for his fraternity at the Hyundai-MGC Open golf tournament, when he rose to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage in the Rs 550,000 event being played at the par-70 Madras Gymkhana Club golf course on Thursday.

Chaudhary, who shot a one-under 69 on Wednesday, tallied six-under 134 at the halfway stage to snatch the limelight from his more illustrious colleagues on the Hero Honda Golf Tour -- Shiv Prakash of Kanpur and citymate Mukesh Kumar. Shiv Prakash, winner of Cotton City Open this season and No 2 on the Order of Merit, shot a 66, while Mukesh, Mahindra Champion Golfer of the Year for past two seasons, added a second successive 67 to tie for lead.

At fourth spot was Zai Kipgen of Delhi at five-under 135. Overnight leader Amritinder Singh slipped to tied fifth spot along with veteran Rohtas Singh and SSP Chowrasia at four-under 136 after submitting a two-over 72 card.

The cut was applied at seven-over 147 with 51 professionals making it to the money-making rounds. Among the leading golfers who missed the cut were last season's ‘Rookie of the year’, Mysore's Rahul Ganapathy and Jaipur's Vishal Singh.

Chaudhary’s round on Thursday typified the power of mind over matter. Playing with a polio-affected right leg, Chaudhary returned several decent performances in his career without actually creating a splash. But no one could deny him his place under the spotlight on Thursday.

"It feels really great. I am happy with my round today, but I am focussing on something bigger -- my first title victory," said the ambitious Chaudhary.

The only other time Chaudhary led the field in his eight-year long career was at the ONGC-NGC Open in Noida in 1996.

The highlight of Chaudhary’s round on Thursday was the way he sizzled the course on his back nine. Starting his day with a birdie on the first, there was little indication of his final score when he made the turn at level-par after dropping a shot on the eighth. But the return journey was a different story.

The 27-year old birdied the 11th, 12th and 13th, took a breather with a par on the 14th, and then birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th. His only other bogey of the day came on the 17th.

"I started both yesterday's and today's rounds with birdies. This course really suits my game and since I am hitting the ball superbly, I feel I have a chance," he said. "I am as good as anybody else and I want to prove that this week," he concluded.

Shiv Prakash has been playing hot golf this season. Two tied-fifth finishes at the Hindu Open, Chennai and the Hero Honda Open, Bangalore sandwiching a resounding win at the Cotton City Open at Coimbatore, has renewed the veteran's confidence and self-belief. This he used to good effect today to return a four-under 66.

"I have never felt so good about my game before," said the Kanpur Pro. 'My hitting is exemplary and the wind just doesn't seem to bother me anymore. The greens are just perfect for my style of putting and everything seems too good to be true," added the 41-year-old, who started from the tenth tee and made five birdies and a lone bogey on the 17th. His birdies came on the 14th, 16th, first, fifth and seventh.

Mukesh is finally back in form. He made a birdie-bogey-birdie start after teeing off from the 10th. Making the turn at one-under, Mukesh essayed birdies on the third, fourth and eighth with an unfortunate bogey on the final hole of his round handing him a day's score of three-under 67.

"I am pleased to be back in the limelight. Though I was never doubted my abilities, a certain restlessness had started creeping in," he said and added. "Now I can breath easier."

SCORES (36 holes): 134 _ Rajesh Chaudhary (69,65), Shiv Prakash (68,66), Mukesh Kumar (67,67); 135 _ Zai Kipgen (65,70); 136 _ Rohtas Singh (67,69), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (66,70), Amritinder Singh (64,72); 137 _ Feroz Ali (69,68), Basad Ali (69,68), Bhoop Singh (69,68); 138 _ Ravipreet Sidhu (69,69); 139 _ Akbar Ali (70,69); 140 _ Asgar Ali (71,69), 141 _ Mohd Islam (74,67), Magan Subbrao (72,69), Ramesh Kumar (70, 71), Amit Dube (69,72), Digvijay Singh (69,72); Amateurs: 143 _ Sachin Nigade (75,68)