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Meronk, Hidalgo and Luiten share India Championship lead as darkness halts round two
More than half the field was still on the course at Delhi Golf Club when play was called off on Friday, after Thursday's storm pushed the schedule back. Om Prakash Chouhan is four off the pace, and a clutch of Indians are hovering around the cut.
Key points
- Adrian Meronk, Angel Hidalgo and Joost Luiten share the clubhouse lead after 36 holes.
- More than half of the 144-man field had not finished round two when darkness fell.
- Om Prakash Chouhan is the best-placed Indian, four shots off the lead.
Darkness beat the field again at Delhi Golf Club on Friday. With Thursday’s storm having wiped out five hours, more than half of the 144 players at the DP World India Championship were still out on the course when play was stopped, and 12 had not even teed off in their second round.
Of those who did finish, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Spain’s Angel Hidalgo and the Netherlands’ Joost Luiten share the clubhouse lead. Belgium’s Thomas Detry, who was one shot off the lead after the first round, is one behind again at eight under with six holes of his second round played. England’s Todd Clements and Eddie Pepperell are also a shot back, and Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra was seven under after five holes.
Late slips for the leaders
Both Meronk and Luiten could have been out on their own. Meronk had reached four under for his round and the outright lead before a bogey at his last hole.
“It was a lot of solid golf,” Meronk said.
Luiten dropped two shots late on with a double bogey, and blamed the hours of waiting over two days. “The long day and the tiredness just got to me a bit,” the Dutchman said.
Hidalgo had no complaints. “Pretty happy with the way I’m playing these two rounds,” the Spaniard said.
Germany’s Marcel Siem added a 69 to his opening 70 to sit five under, while New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, at two over after rounds of 76 and 70, is close to being out of contention. Patrick Reed made a bogey and a triple bogey and is sitting on the projected cut line. The top 65 and ties will play the weekend.
Indians around the cut
Om Prakash Chouhan, whose four-under 68 made him the best of the Indians in the first round, was still four under and four shots off the lead two holes into his second round.
Behind him, several of India’s leading players were bunched on or near the projected cut at level par: Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar after seven holes, Karandeep Kochhar after 16, Anirban Lahiri, and Shiv Kapur, who finished his round.
Tommy Fleetwood, the defending champion, and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who both opened with 70s, were among those still on the course when the hooter sounded.
Round two is expected to be completed on Saturday morning before the cut is made and the third round begins at the US$4 million event.