Nuh, Haryana: MJ Daffue and Rashid Khan share a two-shot lead after day two of the DP World PGTI Open.
Khan of India, who has three holes left in his second round, tied at 13 under par with South Africa’s Daffue, who had previously set a course record of 11 under 61 at the Classic Golf and Country Club.
Daffue, who is seeking a second victory on the Road to Mallorca 2026 after winning the NTT Data Pro-Am last month, started 10th and made progress on four of his first six holes before adding four consecutive birdies at the turn. The 37-year-old scored three more shots and was delighted with his flawless attempt to once again set the pace at the top of the leaderboard.
“Overall it was a very easy 61. I hit it great, putted well and didn’t miss anything,” he said.
“Days like this don’t come around often, but the game is trending and I’ve been working hard on it.
“At the end I was thinking about having a chance at that magic number in the last game, but overall I had to stick to my game and not get in my own way. It’s so easy to think too far ahead and try to do certain things when you should just let it come to you.”
“Obviously it was great to win at Fancourt and I feel like I want to be in these positions because I know I can do it. I want to compete every week and it’s nice to go for a second win.”
Khan, who also started on the 10th hole, bounced back to start his round with three birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes to reach 11 under par. The 35-year-old then added two more birdies to his scorecard to draw level with Daffue before play was suspended due to darkness.
“I started really well,” he said. “I birdied my second hole, the par-3 11th, and that’s not an easy hole to score two, so I was happy.”
“On the 13th, I was 135 yards from the flag and hit a slam dunk for eagle, and that’s when things really took off for me, so that gave me a lot of confidence. I made a couple of good putts on the turn, so it was a really good day.”
“I want to approach tomorrow the same way. I want to keep things simple; I have three holes left of my second round tomorrow and we’ll see how the next two rounds go.”
Swede Adam Wallin and Spaniard Albert Boneta share third place at 11 under par and will return with Khan to complete their second rounds at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
The third round of the DP World PGTI Open does not start until 11:00 a.m. local time on Saturday.
