Johannesburg [South Africa], April 17 (ANI): Udayan Mane, who shot a flawless 7-under 65 on the first day, went one better on the second as he added an 8-under 64 that included a hole-in-one in the second round at the IGPL Invitational South Africa.Playing at the iconic Royal Johannesburg’s West Course, Olympian Mane was bogey-free for the second day in a row and moved to 15-under and was the only player in double digits under par, according to a release.Mane is now six shots ahead of the field as he seeks his maiden IGPL title. Trailing Mane in tied second place is a highly motivated trio of Manav Shah (65-70), Pukhraj Singh Gill (66-69) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-68). Yet each of them knows that making up six shots on the focused and in-form Mane will be a tough task.Local South African star Musiwalo Nethunzwi (69-67) was sole fifth, while rookie pro Danish Verma (70-67) and another South African golfer, Alessio Graziani (72-65) were tied for sixth place.One of the three first-day leaders, Milind Soni, suffered a mid-round lapse with a bogey-double bogey show on the 11th and the 12th and carded 73 as he dropped to Tied-eighth alongside Raghav Chugh (69-69) and Karandeep Kochhar (67-71) at 6-under total.Last week’s runner-up, Veer Ganapathy (70-70) was tied 11th with Harshjeet Singh Sethie (70-70), Varun Parikh (70-70) and left-handed Kartik Sharma (69-71), a 4-under total.The scoring has been rather low with 27 players at par or better after 36 holes, and there is one more round to go in the event.Mannat Brar (74-69) was the best-placed woman player at T-21, as Vidhatri Urs (72-72) slipped to T-25.Beginning the second day on the Par-5 first, Mane opened with an eagle and then shot a hole-in-one on the Par-3 fifth as he went to 4-under in very quick time. Two two-shot gains in a matter of five holes took Mane way ahead.Another gain on the ninth saw him turn in 5-under. Three more birdies on the back nine gave him a superb 8-under card that carried him to 15-under.Mane is coming off a third place in Mauritius, and his game has been looking sharp. A natural long-hitter, the big-built Mane is also reaping the benefits of a much sharper short game.Manav Shah, who contended in the opening event in Chandigarh, seemed to be carrying on from where he left off with a 65 on the first day. He birdied the first, fourth and the seventh to go 3-under for the front nine, and when he added a fourth birdie, it seemed he might give Mane a run. But three dropped shots in four holes with uncharacteristic errors saw him fall before a closing bogey provided some relief. Yet with a 70 in the second round and a total of 9-under, he finds himself six back.Gill was 4-under for the front nine, but two bogeys on the back nine pulled him back. He closed with a birdie on the 18th, which played as one of the easiest holes on the day.Bhullar is always a threat in any event. More so in recent times in IGPL. Winner of three events, he has already won once in 2026. After a 67 on Day 1, he added a 68 to stay in the frame. He knows he is six behind, but as he added, his course also gives low scores. So, a low score from Bhullar and an error two from Mane could open the contest and add to the excitement.Mane’s hole-in-one was the first of the event, and it caused quite an excitement. But before the day was out, Ranjit Singh landed an ace on the Par-3 16th later in the day. Ranjit (69-73), however, was back in T-17th place at 2-under total.Last week’s winner, Sachin Baisoya, had a rough day. He dropped back-to-back bogeys early on the third and the fourth and later double-bogeyed the 10th. He ended with a 2-over 74 card and was T-17, but is capable of hauling himself into the Top 10 with a good final round.In the team competition, despite Mane’s superb efforts, Green Fuels Hyderabad were on top with fine performances by all four players -Shah, Verma, Graziani, and Soni. With the top two cards counting each day, Green Fuels were 18-under and 10 shots ahead of Atri Mumbai, who have Mane in their team. The third-place team is Honer Gurugram, spearheaded by Pukhraj Singh Gill. (ANI)(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)