Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), Sep 24 (IANS) : Shiv Kapur followed up his stunning opening round with a composed three-under 69 on Thursday to retain the individual lead at the IGPL Invitational, while RVR Delhi Blue Bulls and Auro Goa Eagles moved into a share of the team lead after two rounds.
Kapur, who carded a 10-under 62 in the opening round, reached 13-under for the tournament and holds a three-shot advantage over Goa’s Varun Chopra, who added a four-under 68 to his opening 66.
The experienced Kapur began his second round confidently, picking up birdies on the second, third and seventh holes. He finally dropped his first shot of the tournament on the ninth after going 26 holes without a bogey.
He responded with three more birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th, although bogeys on the 12th and 16th left him with a 69.
“I was not trying to think about 10-under from yesterday. It was great, and today I was just trying to stay in the present and play steadily, though there were dropped shots. Three shots clear, but one more round to go, this course has low scores, and a good start can make some of the youngsters dangerous,” said Kapur.
Chopra’s second successive round under par strengthened Auro Goa Eagles’ position, with the golfer sitting alone in second place at 10-under.
Veer Ganapathy remained in contention for a maiden professional title after carding a 70 to reach five-under, although he is eight shots behind Kapur. He shares third place with Gaganjeet Bhullar, who also followed a 69 with a 70, and Varun Parikh, who slipped from the top of the leaderboard after a 73.
Sachin Baisoya is sixth at four-under, while Trishul Chinappa, Kanav Chauhan and Shaurya Binu share seventh at three-under. Aryan Roopa Anand, Tushar Pannu and debutant Ravi Kumar are tied for 10th at two-under.
In the team competition, RVR Delhi Blue Bulls and Auro Goa Eagles are locked at 17-under. Kapur has been the driving force behind Delhi’s challenge, with contributions also coming from Aryan Roopa Anand, Chiragh Kumar and Gaurav Ghei.
For Goa, Chopra leads the charge at 10-under, supported by Chauhan, Saarthak Chibber and IL Aalaap.
FlyingMan Kolkata are third at 11-under, followed by GolfKonnect Bengaluru Stallions at nine-under and Vimtra Chennai Lions GC at eight-under.
With one round remaining, Kapur heads into the final day with a three-shot cushion, while the battle for team honours remains finely poised.
