India’s Veer Ahlawat has a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of The DGC Open, as he seeks his first win on the Asian Tour. Ahlawat added a 5-under 67 to his opening 68 at Delhi Golf Club to move to 9-under, while compatriot Ajeetesh Sandhu shot a 68 in a tournament that is the first Asian Tour event played in India since the end of 2019. Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong is a stroke further back after returning a 70, while Gaganjeet Bhullar from India (66) and Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolphaisan (67) and Kasidit Lepkurte (68) are another shot behind. As it stands after 36 holes ⛳ 📊 https://t.co/KFqZISybmE #TheDGCOpen #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/rmZbcrWLGy — Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 25, 2022 First-round leaders Travis Smyth from Australia and Indian Shankar Das slipped back down the field after shooting 73 and 74, to lie four and three under respectively. Ahlawat’s round was both brilliant and composed: he started on the back nine and made the turn in 5-under with four birdies in a row from 12 and another on 17, before rattling off nine straight nine pars. “My swing is feeling pretty good, so I was pretty confident that if I keep hitting it in the fairway, I’m going to hit good second shots so that was my plan for today,” the 26-year-old said. “I think my iron shots were on point today. I hit them pretty close, and I did hole putts, so my putting is also rolling pretty good.” A professional since 2016, he has won once before on the Professional Golf Tour of India and impressed earlier this year in the SMBC Singapore Open, where he tied for fifth. Sandhu is in search of his second win on the Asian Tour, having claimed the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in 2017. And he put himself in position to do that over the weekend with a bogey-free round highlighted by four birdies. Nitihorn appears to have lost none of the fine form that saw him produce his best result on the Asian Tour last month, when he finished joint fourth in the Royal’s Cup on home soil. Bhullar, the most successful Indian on the Asian Tour with nine victories, shot the joint lowest round of the week so far helped by five birdies on the trot from hole 13. “I think this is my best round at DGC as a professional,” he said. “I’ve shot 6-under as a junior, an amateur, but I’ve never shot 6-under as a pro. I think overall I played really well.”
