Defending champion Chacarra grabs clubhouse lead as home contingent encounters a disappointing day

Gurugram: On a golf course where par is considered a player’s friend, Casey Jarvis shot nine birdies in his second round for a scintillating eight-under, and yet could not wrest the Day Two clubhouse lead from Hero Indian Open defending champion Eugenio Chacarra.

This is the aura of the DLF Golf and Country Club, and Jarvis showed how to come to terms with its reputation by stamping his class as the man in form. Recovering from the opening one-over 73 on Thursday, it was a sublime show by the South African for Friday’s best round, and Jarvis is now poised for a rare piece of history on the DP World Tour.

Several pitfalls lie in wait, and so do players like Chacarra, who is out to make it a historic double, but Jarvis looks determined to complete the revival with blinkers on.

As expected, the leaderboard saw changes with overnight leader Freddy Schott dropping three spots to Tied 4th after shooting one-over 73 to total 5-under 139. South Africa’s MJ Daffue, fresh from his title triumph on the HotelPlanner Tour event in India last week, leaped 14 spots to the sole third position with his Day 2 effort of five-under 67 to total six-under 138.

Twin narratives for Jarvis

The 22-year-old South African is chasing two storylines this week. Every time Jarvis has teed off in his last three starts, he has been uncatchable, well almost.

It all started at the Magical Kenya Open, and winning his National Open --- the South African Open Championship, the week after gave Jarvis the ticket to The Masters and Open Championship.

It could well have been three-in-three, but it was a T2 at the Joburg Open. Jarvis has a chance to make it three wins in four starts should he continue in the same vein over the final 36 holes of the USD 2.55 million Hero Indian Open in Gurugram.

Winning a National Open on Sunday for the second time will affirm Jarvis’ status as the man for such occasions, and add to the feel-good factor before the season’s first Major Championship.

While that tag will be accepted with cupped hands, for Jarvis the preparation this week in his own words is just the one he sought in order to be competitive against the cream of professional golf at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Every bit that goes into making this Gary Player design the challenge that it is reminds Casey of the test ahead. “The greens here are very slopy, and I know Augusta’s also very slopy, but extremely fast and I’m sure we’ll be extremely fast there as well. So, it’s the perfect preparation and it’s a special place to be,” said Jarvis about the venue that is often termed the toughest golf course on the DP World Tour.

The ascent of 39 spots after the frustrating start to the tournament also placed Jarvis on the fringe of a feat that has rarely been visited. Should he win, Jarvis will become the fastest to three wins on the DP World Tour from the start of the calendar year.

The omens are there, and the manner in which he picked himself up from the over-par effort spoke of unflinching grit as he worked his way around the potentially distracting hour-long weather disruption, which led to afternoon session getting delayed by 1:20 hours.

“The bit of rain helped for the back nine. I can’t count the feet of putts I made today, but I know it is, a whole lot,” he said.

Indeed, that was the case as nine birdies, punctuated by the lone dropped shot, had his rivals clapping.

“Casey put us all today on how to score, how to play golf and it was fun to watch,” said Chacarra.

Pressure a privilege for Chacarra

Compared to Thursday, the fist pumps were not as pronounced on Friday, but to shoot in the 60s (67, 69) for the second day running requires skill, which Chacarra has in plenty to match the confidence he carries that he is the best player in the world when in peak form.

After the lull since the top-three at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December, Chacarra has shown glimpses of good golf, but the inability to put together four solid rounds on a tournament week has been hurtful.

There is ground to cover as Chacarra admitted there is some gap compared to form he was in here last year, but that is fuel to keep pushing.

“I didn’t have the best of the starts on my putting, but I feel like my ball striking has been outstanding.” he said.

Akshay Bhatia’s rollercoaster round

Akshay Bhatia was determined to make amends after a rather unforgettable first round of 5-over 77. The Hero MotoCorp’s Global Brand Ambassador dropped a bogey on his first hole and it looked like he was in for another rough day.

Regrouping after that, he showed his class thereafter shooting 5 birdies between Holes 2 and 9 as it seemed he was looking to make a surge towards the top. However, a bogey and a double on 10th and 14th led him to slide to a score of 4-over. He currently has two holes left and sits just at the cutline, which is expected to be at four-over 74.

Top Indian

On the home front, Om Prakash Chouhan stood out as a calming experience as he followed up Thursday’s 73 with an under-par round. The one-under 71 helped the seasoned Indian climb 18 spots to rest at T23.

The other Indian above the cutline from the big local contingent was the young Manoj S. He shot a two-under 70 for the best round of the day by an Indian to add to the 76, and is placed T41.

When play was called off due to darkness at 6:37 pm, 31 players were yet to finish their second round and will come back on Saturday at 7:15 am.

Tags : Eugenio Chacarra, Golf, Indian Open, Casey Jarvis, Gurugram