Lukas Nemecz posted a sublime eight under par round of 64 to claim a share of the Delhi Challenge lead at the halfway stage at Classic Golf & Country Club.
The Austrian is joined by Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg, Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist and Spain’s Quim Vidal on 11 under par after 36 holes in the Indian capital one clear of American Davis Bryant and Englishman Will Hopkins who share fifth on ten under.
Nemecz, who is ninth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, opened with a bogey on the par four tenth but then found his groove immediately, birdieing the next five in a row before recording a par at the 16th.
He rejoined the birdie train at the following hole, picking up back-to-back shots before the turn as he closed in on the lead in the second of back-to-back HotelPlanner Tour events in India.
The 35-year-old then parred the following seven holes from the first, before finishing with two birdies to claim part of a four-way tie for the advantage and he was delighted with his day’s work, especially considering the dropped shot at the first.
“It was a great round. I didn’t start the round the way I wanted with a bogey. It was a very nice round, 64 with a bogey to start,” he said.
“I also bogeyed the last hole yesterday so I was a bit angry. I holed a ten footer on 11, my second hole, and just kept going. The ball was going in the hole and I just kept rolling them in, so six under for the first nine holes with a bogey start was unusual, but it was great.”
Classic Golf & Country Club poses many challenges, and Nemecz highlighted the narrow fairways as one of the key components of what makes it so tricky.
“You have to be good off the tee,” he said. “Hitting fairways is almost impossible because they’re so narrow, 14-18 yards wide, so it’s very tricky but you have to keep the ball in play and read the lies well in the semi-rough.
“Another difficult thing here are the greens. They’re very firm, grainy, very fast and you have to put yourself in the right positions. If you miss the green on the right side then it can be a very easy chip but if you miss it on the wrong side, it’s almost impossible. You have to be smart sometimes.”
Nemecz believes his game is starting to come together after a positive start to the season, with his putter beginning to warm up to complement his dialled-in long game.
“I feel like my long game is really good. I can be aggressive off the tee that makes it easier into the greens and this week, the putter is working a lot better. I putted ok last week, still a lot of room for improvement but good enough.
“I just try to continue the same thing. Have control over the ball, off the tee especially, and place it smart into the green. You have to be patient here. I feel like the front nine is playing tougher than the back nine so starting from the first, you have to be very patient and wait for your chances on the back nine.”
A total of 71 players made the cut on three under par, and Nemecz will be joined by Sandborg and Sciot-Siegrist in the final group for round three.
