AUGUSTA : Even as Justin Rose continued to bloom on Friday, albeit hesitantly, amidst the stunning flower beds at the picture-perfect Augusta National, a trio of Indian-origin players, Sahith Theegala , Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai , continued to impress at the Masters .
Though it was just a day and a half at the Masters, the theatre was already buzzing with action. Justin Rose was 9-under, Bryson DeChambeau was 7-under and Sungjae Im was 6-under. The mercurial crowd favourite and two-time US Open winner, DeChambeau surged ahead to 7-under and closed the gap between him and Rose to just one after being four at the start. But Rose didn’t let up with a birdie on the 16th to get to 9-under. He had two more holes to play.
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Equally impressive was Korean Sungjae Im, who had five birdies in first 13 holes. Im at 6-under was third. Then there was the Masters debutant Matt McCarty, who from 1-under went to 2-over after first two holes only to make a masterly rally with eight birdies in the next 12 holes but closed with a bogey to finish with 68.
Midway through the second day, Sahith Theegala, the most eloquent of the Indian-origin trio, spoke tellingly with three birdies in the first eight holes to get to 3-under total and into the top-10 of the leaderboard. Akshay Bhatia, who like Theegala was 2-over for the day and even through 10. Rai, also 2-under at start, was even after three.
Earlier, when the first day of the tournament was consigned to history, Bhatia and Rai with 2-under 70 each had positioned themselves at tied-seventh on the front page of the leaderboard. If Rai had a super start with 4-under through and a late fightback to finish at 70, Bhatia had five birdies and a bogey in his last six holes.
Theegala, playing in the final group of the day, ensured a closing birdie on the 18th to card an even par 72 to be T-27. Theegala at one stage was 2-over but rallied well by the end with fine back-nine efforts.
All three felt they had begun the week well by handling well the ebbs and flows of the magical course which tested, tempted, deceived and sometimes rewarded, too. It is the first time that as many as three players with more than a tinge of Indian-ness running through veins have teed up at Augusta National in the same year.
On Day 2, Rose had moved from to 7-under to 9-under and again slid to 8-under at the time of writing. The first day saw things go Rose’s way with a 7-under 65, and even though early play in the second round was not rousing, there were no signs of him wilting on these challenging and tricky greens.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was yet to begin his second round after a first-auround 68.
Though it was just a day and a half at the Masters, the theatre was already buzzing with action. Justin Rose was 9-under, Bryson DeChambeau was 7-under and Sungjae Im was 6-under. The mercurial crowd favourite and two-time US Open winner, DeChambeau surged ahead to 7-under and closed the gap between him and Rose to just one after being four at the start. But Rose didn’t let up with a birdie on the 16th to get to 9-under. He had two more holes to play.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
Equally impressive was Korean Sungjae Im, who had five birdies in first 13 holes. Im at 6-under was third. Then there was the Masters debutant Matt McCarty, who from 1-under went to 2-over after first two holes only to make a masterly rally with eight birdies in the next 12 holes but closed with a bogey to finish with 68.
Midway through the second day, Sahith Theegala, the most eloquent of the Indian-origin trio, spoke tellingly with three birdies in the first eight holes to get to 3-under total and into the top-10 of the leaderboard. Akshay Bhatia, who like Theegala was 2-over for the day and even through 10. Rai, also 2-under at start, was even after three.
Earlier, when the first day of the tournament was consigned to history, Bhatia and Rai with 2-under 70 each had positioned themselves at tied-seventh on the front page of the leaderboard. If Rai had a super start with 4-under through and a late fightback to finish at 70, Bhatia had five birdies and a bogey in his last six holes.
Theegala, playing in the final group of the day, ensured a closing birdie on the 18th to card an even par 72 to be T-27. Theegala at one stage was 2-over but rallied well by the end with fine back-nine efforts.
All three felt they had begun the week well by handling well the ebbs and flows of the magical course which tested, tempted, deceived and sometimes rewarded, too. It is the first time that as many as three players with more than a tinge of Indian-ness running through veins have teed up at Augusta National in the same year.
On Day 2, Rose had moved from to 7-under to 9-under and again slid to 8-under at the time of writing. The first day saw things go Rose’s way with a 7-under 65, and even though early play in the second round was not rousing, there were no signs of him wilting on these challenging and tricky greens.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was yet to begin his second round after a first-auround 68.
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