Niemann surges to clubhouse lead; Lahiri, Dechambeau T-11

A neat bogey-free round with an eagle and a brace of birdies meant Joaquin Niemann surged to the clubhouse lead on the truncated second day of the International Series at DLF Golf and Country Club here on Friday.

- Shantanu Srivastava

GURUGRAM: The Chilean fired a four-under 68 for a total score of six-under and has a two-stroke lead over American Ollie Schniederjans and Japan's Kazuki Higa who shot rounds of 71 and 69.

For the second consecutive day, the start was delayed due to fog while a combination of insufficient light and opening round backlog ensured by the time the hooter was sounded on the hazy evening, 53 in a field of 108 were yet to complete their rounds. The cut, at the close of play, was applied at seven-over.

Having last played, and won, the season-ending PIF Saudi International in the first week of December, Niemann showed no signs of rust and credited the break for his brilliant start to the season.

"I was busy, but not playing golf. I took probably two or three weeks off, got married, had a great party, and spent some quality time with family. That actually gave me some extra energy to come out here and perform my best," he said.

Unperturbed by the delayed starts, elements, and a challenging course, Niemann once again chose conservatism over bravado. And the result was the only completed bogey-free round of the competition. Of the two completed rounds, he has bogeyed only once.