Kolkata, Mar 14 (UNI) England teenager Joshua Berry shot an astounding 10-under 62 to break the course record and emerge joint leader along with India’s Om Prakash Chouhan at a total of 10-under 134 at the halfway stage in the Kolkata Challenge 2025, being played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club here on Friday.
Joshua Berry’s (72-62) extraordinary and error-free 62 lifted him 53 spots from his overnight 54th position while Om Prakash Chouhan’s (66-68) solid 68 that saw him make a late surge helped him continue as the co-leader for the second successive day.
Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen (66) was a shot behind the leaders in third place.
Dhruv Sheoran returned a 71 on Friday to be the second Indian in the top-10 as he tied eighth place at six-under 138.
Local favourite SSP Chawrasia’s second round of 72 saw him end the day in tied 13th place at five-under 139.
Gaganjeet Bhullar produced a flawless 65, the best round among the Indians on day two, to rise 93 spots to tied 16th at four-under 140.
The halfway cut came down at even-par 144. Seventy-one professionals including 20 Indians made the cut.
Nineteen-year-old Joshua Berry sank five birdies on the back-nine including four on the trot and then added five more on the front-nine to break the previous course record of nine-under 63 jointly held by
Edward Fryatt, Arjun Atwal, Rashid Khan and Shamim Khan.
Berry, who has enjoyed playing rights on the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour since 2023, broke the course record in dramatic fashion as he birdied the ninth, his closing hole of the day.
Thirty-eight-year-old Om Prakash Chouhan, the 2023 PGTI Order of Merit champion and a former winner on the HotelPlanner Tour, had a slow start to the day making a birdie and bogey each on the front-nine. His birdie on the eighth came as a result of a mammoth 30-feet conversion.
Om Prakash’s round took flight after his tap-in birdie on the 12th and 15-feet birdie conversion on the 13th. He finally ended the day on a high by draining 10-feet birdie putts on the 17th and 18th.
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