Gritty Chirag grabs 3-stroke lead

Indian golfer Chirag Kumar showed tremendous grit as he recovered from a poor start to fire a fantastic six-under 66 and grab a comfortable three-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the USD 400,000 Panasonic Open, here on Friday.

The 31-year-old dropped a couple of bogeys in the first four holes and ended the day with a bogey as well but in between he fired as many as nine birdies to take his two-day total to 11-under 133 here.

Overnight leader Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka, who is looking for his maiden Asian Tour title win, brought home a sedate two-under 70 to slip to the second position, while Bangladesh duo of Siddikur Rahman and Zamal Hossain and Thailand’s Pawin Ingkhapradit shared the third spot.

Three other Indians were inside the top 10 with Vikrant Chopra (71, 68) managing a tied 6th spot, while Shankar Das (69, 71) and S Chikka (69, 71), who recently defended his Take Solutions titles on ADT Tour in Bengaluru, were tied 8th at the prestigious Delhi Golf Course.