Thangaraja's Triumph: How a Flood-Hit Golfer Fired a 66 to Lead

Thangaraja (73-66), a three-time winner this year and currently placed fourth in the PGTI Ranking, took his 36-hole tally to five-under 139 for a two-stroke advantage over the rest of the field. Thanga thus jumped 17 spots from his overnight tied 18th.

Jairaj Singh Sandhu (68-73), the first-round leader, shot a 73 in round two to drop one place to second position at three-under 141. Dhruv Sheoran (68), PGTI Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu (69), Viraj Madappa (69), and Rashid Khan (70) were all tied third at two-under 142.

Five players out of a total of 125 could not complete their second round on Wednesday when play was suspended at 5:30 pm local time due to fading light. These five players are scheduled to resume their second round from 7:30 am onwards on Thursday. Round three will not commence before 8:15 am.

The cut is likely to fall at eight-over 152.

On another high-scoring day, forty-four-year-old N Thangaraja, who missed last week’s PGTI event in Jaipur due to the floods in his native country, Sri Lanka, outshone the rest of the field with his solid tee shots, approaches, and chipping.

Thangaraja capitalised with birdies on all four Par-5s. He sank two putts from a range of 12 to 20 feet and landed his chips within five feet on four occasions.

“My home in Colombo was affected by the recent floods. Fortunately, there was no major damage. I had decided not to play in Delhi this week, as my family was still trying to get our lives back on track. But my wife insisted that I play in Delhi because I have been in good form. I missed out on practice for about 15 days, with my home course also being flooded. I just managed to get one day of practice before leaving for Delhi," Thanga said.

“Keeping the circumstances in mind, I’m quite proud of my effort so far this week. I’m also coming from warm weather into the cold Delhi weather, so adapting has taken some time. But I was back to striking the ball the way I was doing a few weeks back. That is reflected in my performance today,” he added.

- IANS