Another local Golfer, Gaganjeet Bhullar also carded 7-under 65 to move up to the second place on the leaderboard with an overall score of 10-under 134 after 36 holes.

Abhijit who was trailing Gaganjeet by a shot at T2 till the 15th hole sprung his way to the top basis a perfect chip-in on the 16th for an eagle, while Gaganjeet who now trails the leader by just a shot jumped 11 positions with the help of eight birdies, most of which came before he took the turn.

Overnight leader and another local boy Karandeep Kochhar (70) is now placed third with an overall score of 9-under 135 while former champion Chikkarangappa S (71) is placed fourth with an overall score of 8-under 136.

Among the six players bunched in tied fifth at a total of 7-under 137, were the Chandigarh-based quartet of Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Aadil Bedi, Akshay Sharma and Amrit Lal.

The final two rounds of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational will see a total of 55 golfers including two amateurs take the field after the cut was set at 1-under 143. Some of the prominent names to miss out on making it to the final rounds include tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh, SSP Chawrasia and Viraj Madappa.

Abhijit Singh Chadha (68-65), a three-time winner on the PGTI, kept his card clean for the second day in succession as he didn’t drop a single bogey. His round included two eagles and three birdies. He set up a three-footer for eagle on the second and chipped-in for his second eagle of the day on the 16th.

“It was a steady round. I struck it well and made some long conversions. I kept it in play throughout. There were no stressful pars for me. Importantly, I haven’t made a bogey yet. The chip-in for eagle on the 16th stood out today. It was a perfectly executed shot and the ball landed just where I wanted it to,” Abhijit said.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-65) carded eight birdies and a bogey in round two. Bhullar, who ended India’s four-year long victory drought on the international stage with his win on the Asian Tour few months back, made one 15-feet birdie conversion and landed most of his other birdies by hitting it within 10 feet.

Among the prominent names, Rahil Gangjee was tied 11th at 6-under 138, Rashid Khan was tied 14th at 5-under 139, Jyoti Randhawa was tied 18th at 4-under 140, Ajeetesh Sandhu was tied 27th at 3-under 141 and Udayan Mane was tied 46th at 1-under 143.

The two amateurs who made the cut were local golfer Brijesh Kumar and Bengaluru’s Aryan Roopa Anand, both lying tied 36th at 2-under 142.