IGPL South Africa: Udayan Mane’s Ace Sees Him Race To A Six-Shot Lead At Johannesburg

IGPL South Africa: Udayan Mane fired an 8-under 64, with a hole-in-one, to lead the AM Green IGPL Invitational South Africa at Royal Johannesburg’s West Course. Added to his opening 7-under 65, the Olympian moved to 15-under, stayed bogey-free, and built a six-shot lead after 36 holes.

Mane is the only player in double digits under par. He is chasing his first AM Green IGPL title. Manav Shah, Pukhraj Singh Gill and Gaganjeet Bhullar share second at 9-under. All three understand that making up six strokes on an in-form Mane will be difficult.

Leaderboard after 36 holes

Mane Leads As Bhullar Stays Close

Mane started round two on the Par-5 first and made an eagle. On the Par-3 fifth, he produced the event’s first ace and moved to 4-under very fast. A birdie on nine took him to 5-under at the turn, with three more birdies coming home.

The big-built Mane, a natural long-hitter, is benefiting from sharper wedge play and putting. He recently finished third in Mauritius, and his form has carried into Johannesburg. Across two rounds, he has not dropped a shot on the West Course.

Shah, who contended in the opening event in Chandigarh, shot 65 on day one. In round two, he birdied the first, fourth and seventh, and added another birdie later. But three dropped shots in four holes and a late bogey left him with a 70.

Gill went 4-under for the front nine but slipped with two bogeys on the back. He did finish with a birdie on the 18th, one of the easier holes. Bhullar followed his first round 67 with a 68, staying in touch at 9-under.

Bhullar has three AM Green IGPL wins, with one already in 2026. He believes the course can yield very low scores. A very low round from him and some mistakes from Mane could yet tighten the contest with one round still to play.

Among others, local star Musiwalo Nethunzwi holds fifth at 69-67. Rookie pro Danish Verma and South Africa’s Alessio Graziani share sixth. First-round co-leader Milind Soni stumbled with a bogey and double bogey on 11 and 12, carding 73 to drop to tied eighth.

Soni is joined at 6-under by Raghav Chugh, who shot 69-69, and Karandeep Kochhar, who followed 67 with 71. Last week’s runner-up, Veer Ganapathy, is tied 11th at 4-under after rounds of 70-70, alongside Harshjeet Singh Sethie and Varun Parikh, who also posted 70-70.

Left-hander Kartik Sharma sits with them at 4-under after 69-71. Defending form player, last week’s winner Sachin Baisoya, struggled to a 74. He had back-to-back bogeys on three and four and a double bogey on ten. Baisoya is tied 17th at 2-under but remains a threat.

Two holes-in-one lit up the second round. Mane’s ace at the fifth was the first of the week and drew attention. Later, Ranjit Singh holed out on the Par-3 16th. Ranjit shot 69-73 and is also tied 17th at 2-under heading into the final day.

Scoring has been low overall, with 27 players at par or better after 36 holes. Among women players, Mannat Brar is best placed at tied 21st after 74-69. Vidhatri Urs slipped to tied 25th following matching rounds of 72, but remains inside the cut group.

Team competition standings

In the team event, Green Fuels Hyderabad led at 18-under, helped by strong cards from Shah, Verma, Graziani and Soni. With the best two scores counting each day, they are ten shots clear of Atri Mumbai, who have Mane. Honer Gurugram sit third, led by Gill.