The second round of the Hero Indian Open was suspended when afternoon matches were on the back nine, with much of the field having still completed their eighteen holes today. A thunderstorm with lightning and thunder in Delhi postponed the halfway cut guillotine until tomorrow, leaving some players still in limbo.
Leading the pack is Keita Nakajima, as the Japanese golfer soared with a repeat of yesterday’s 65, sitting atop with a score of -14 at the midway point of the tournament. More error-prone than yesterday but still in the upper echelons of the leaderboard is Italy’s Matteo Manassero.
Matteo Manassero, results
For the Japanese player, seven birdies in the first eleven holes today, followed by three consecutive bogeys between the 14th and 16th, pushed him back a bit, only to recover with three gained shots in the last two flags on Friday and rise to the top with a two-shot advantage.
Nakajima’s closest pursuer is Romain Langasque, the Frenchman sitting solo at -12, having mirrored exactly his score from yesterday (-6). One stroke behind is Manassero (-11), relinquishing the tournament lead but remaining firmly in contention for the title.
The Italian today made a few more mistakes compared to yesterday’s bogey-free round, notably a double bogey on the par 5 18th, but moments of brilliance were not lacking. The Veronese golfer closed today with 68 strokes (-4), for a total of -11.
The incredibly talented Italian recorded two eagles, one on the friendly par 5 8th (gaining four shots over two days), and the other on the par 4 17th with a long iron that found the center of the hole directly. The top three have completed their scheduled 36 holes, while in fourth place, at -10, alongside Frenchman Jeon Weon Ko, who has also finished his round, is Dutchman Joost Luiten, at -3 for the day after 15 holes.
On the par 72 course at the DLF Golf & Country Club in New Delhi, in sixth place at -9, the first Indian player, Veer Ahlawat, while in seventh position with a score of -8 is American Johannes Veerman. Tied for eighth at -7, with already seven strokes behind the leader, a large group completes the top-10.
Regarding the Italians, Lorenzo Scalise and Francesco Laporta are guaranteed to play the weekend, both in 31st place with a total of -4, as is Edoardo Molinari, 50th at -2 after a very good partial score of -5 achieved today.
Those who will have to fight and gain at least one stroke are Andrea Pavan, currently 76th at +1 but still with three holes to play to complete the second round. Practically out of contention is Guido Migliozzi (93rd at +3), also with holes 16, 17, and 18 still to finish, while Filippo Celli is sure to be excluded (134th at +12).
It’s worth noting the feat of Espen Kofstad, the Norwegian, who after yesterday’s 81 (+9), today shot a course record of 62 strokes, securing the weekend with a -10 for the day and a whopping 19-stroke difference from yesterday.
The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m. local time, in the middle of the Italian night, while the third round won’t start before 10:20 a.m. Indian time.
