Two birdies and an eagle, in the first bogey-free card of the week in the tournament, have been enough for Joaquín Niemann (-6) to take the lead at the International Series India after the second day of competition. As happened yesterday, delays due to the thick fog in the early hours of the day have prevented the completion of the second round, with several players unable to finish their first nine holes of the day. But the Chilean, in the first group, managed to deliver a card of 68 strokes, placing him as the provisional solo leader of the standings.
Niemann is undoubtedly the rival to beat in these international series of the Asian Tour, where last season he managed to top the final ranking. And in this event before the start of the new LIV Golf season, he is proving to be in his element, even though the chosen venue, the DLF Golf and Country Club, is truly challenging, with narrow fairways, hard greens, and countless traps causing absolute havoc among the participants.
A chip-in eagle from @joaconiemann on the 8th en-route to recording the first bogey-free round at the International Series India presented by DLF. 🙌@TorqueGC_ @livgolf_league @intseriesgolf #InternationalSeries #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise #DLFlifestyle #DLFhomes pic.twitter.com/AUZCakdaZU
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) January 31, 2025
Only 12 of the 108 golfers who started the tournament are currently below par. Among them, the Spaniard Eugenio López-Chacarra (-3), who began Friday as co-leader, made a good birdie on his first hole of the second round but committed a double bogey on the par five of the 4th hole, losing some positions. The Madrid native was one of those affected by the lack of light and had to interrupt his round while playing the 7th hole, sitting in a tied 4th place.
Luis Masaveu (+7) also couldn’t finish his second 18 holes of the tournament, struggling yesterday with nine strokes over par, occupying one of the last positions on the leaderboard, but this Friday he reacted with two birdies and no bogeys in the eight holes he managed to play (from 10 to 17) to just make it inside the cut line. Tomorrow, he will have to rise early to complete the work and continue playing for the rest of the weekend.
At the top, the competition is fierce, with American Ollie Schniederjans (-4) and Japanese Kazuki Higa (-4) two strokes behind the leader, both having completed their second rounds, Chacarra alongside a group that includes Abraham Ancer (-3), also affected by the delay in play, and Bryson DeChambeau (-1) nearing the top 10, at a more than recoverable distance and proving that, even though it’s not a course for big hitters, he knows how to defend himself perfectly.
