Elvira retains lead in Bangalore
Manuel Elvira will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge after posting a two under par second round of 70 at Karnataka Golf Association.
The Spaniard made the turn at level par before adding two birdies coming in to reach 11 under par, one clear of Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg who posted a six under 66 to move into second on ten under.
The 26-year-old remained patient throughout the afternoon in Bangalore but was disappointed not to extend his lead further after missing several birdie opportunities.
“It was a frustrating day,” he said. “I started with a birdie on one and then missed a lot of birdie chances after that. I made a couple of silly mistakes on the par fives where I hit it into the water on nine and the woods on 15. I stayed patient on the back nine and made birdie on the last which was pretty good.
“It’s hard to follow up such a low round yesterday and I was trying my best to keep it up. I stayed patient, gave myself as many birdie chances as I could and overall I’m happy with my round.”
Elvira set a new course record at Karnataka Golf Association with his first round 63, however he found scoring more difficult on day two due to the breezy afternoon conditions.
“There were a couple of tricky pins today and the wind switches quite a bit on this course which makes some shots difficult to judge,” he said. “On a few occasions I hit my tee shot downwind and then my approach shot was suddenly into the wind which was difficult and it takes some adjusting.
“Tomorrow I am going to stick to the same approach. I will hit sensible clubs off the tee and be aggressive where I can.”
Welshman Oliver Farr, Italian Stefano Mazzoli, England’s Ashley Chesters and Indian Aman Raj share third place on nine under par, while six players are a shot further back in seventh including Spaniard Victor Pastor, Scotland’s Liam Johnston and Indian Aryan Roopa Anand.
The cut fell at three under par with 69 players making it through to the weekend, including amateurs Arron Edwards-Hill and Robert Moran who received invitations through Sir Nick Faldo's Elite Tour.
The third round will get under way at 7:30am local time, with Elvira teeing it up in the final group alongside Karlberg and Raj at 9:30am.
[COVER PHOTO CREDIT: CHALLENGE TOUR]
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March 24, 2023 - By Dhruv Trivedi