annik YPaul held on to a narrow lead after carding a 71 to reach 11-under on moving day in the Hero Indian Open.
First birdie of the day for the overnight leader 🎯@YannikPaul extends his lead back to two.#HIO2023 pic.twitter.com/E74tdCRrgx
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 25, 2023
"There’s so much golf yet. I just tried to stay patient. I know on this course you’re going to get some bad breaks here and there. Six, seven, eight I had a couple of nice birdies and then played pretty solid on the back nine.
"I hit a couple of great putts but they just seemed to slip by. Had some lip-outs from around eight feet, sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, it’s not in my control."
He lost ground with back-to-back bogeys at the second and third and made another at the 16th countered by four birdies, three of them consecutive from the 6th.
“Short game is my strength, I would say. I gave myself a lot of chances and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. I just tried to stay positive. I’m in a great position and I’m looking forward to playing with Marcel tomorrow.
“Getting the win would be amazing. Such an iconic event here but I think that’s the hard part. You don’t want to think ahead, you want to stay in the present because 18 holes is a lot of golf left. I’ll just try to get some rest tonight and look forward to tomorrow.”
Nine years since his last tour win, @SiemMarcel is one back with 18 holes to play 👀#HIO2023 pic.twitter.com/XWnW6JNy3o
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 25, 2023
Fellow German Marcel Siem scored a 67 and lies in second place at 10-under followed in third at 8-under by the Netherlands' Joost Luiten who shot a 68.
Last week's winner, Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen, carded a bogey-free 66 to move into a share of fourth place at 5-under alongside Spain's Jorge Campillo (67) and India's Veer Ahlawat (68).
