Gurgaon, Feb 12 (Inditop.com) Barry Lane, the 49-year-old Englishman turned the back with a second successive 67 to take the clubhouse lead at 10-under 134 at the Euro 1.5 million (approximately $2.1 million) Avantha Masters golf here Friday.
Also at 10-under was young rookie John Parry, 23, and Chan Yih-shin of the Chinese Taipei. But both Parry and Chan had one more hole to play – Parry the 18th and Chan the ninth.
When rain and threat of lightning stopped play at 4.28 p.m., there were 36 players still to complete their second round. They will come back at 7.15 a.m. Saturday and the third round draw will be made immediately after that. The earliest the third round will begin will be at 9 a.m.
It was not a great day for the Indians, as the cut was poised to come at one-under. Only a handful of Indians were at one-under or better. Leading them was Rahil Gangjee (69) at eight-under and in eighth place. Jyoti Randhawa (67) at five-under, Arjun Atwal (69) at three-under, Digvijay Singh (71) and Ashok Kumar (72) at two-under, amateur Rashid Khan at one-under looked like making the cut. Khan had four more holes to play.
It was a day of challenges for the golfers, who during the course of the day saw the weather fluctuate between hot and sunny to windy and finally cold, and rainy.
“I have actually started off the year all right but my problem for the past two years has been my putting,” said Lane. “I have managed to post a couple of 68s here and there and then I have had a nice couple of 67s to start the week here.”
Meanwhile, the honour of being the leading Indian at the midway mark is Gangjee, who added a bogey-free 69 to his first round 67 to come just two shots off the lead.
It was not a great day for many of the leading Indians as the cut seemed likely at even par or one-under. Jeev Milkha Singh (72-73) at one-over was sure to miss the cut, as were SSP Chowrasia (73-73), Gaurav Ghei (78-67), Anirban Lahiri (71-74), Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-76) and Shiv Kapur (76-70).
C. Muniyappa needed a birdie on 18th to come to one-under, while Harendra Gupta (73-71) and Mukesh Kumar (72-72), both par for 36 holes, would be hoping for the cut to fall to even par. So far exactly 65 players are one-under or better.
“I felt good from the outset even though I was a little nervous to begin with. I was reading the putts to perfection and my long game was solid. Fortunately unlike yesterday I found my rhythm with the driver in the second round,” said Gangjee, whose lone win on Asian Tour came in his Rookie Year 2004.
Gangjee’s longest putt for a birdie came on the seventh, where he sank a 15-footer. His other birdies came on 14th and 18th.
Randhawa, who lives a stone’s throw away from the DLF Golf and Country Club, must have heaved a sigh of relief after finishing his second round. “I focused too much on the results during round one but today I just wanted to play to my potential.”
Randhawa, starting on tenth, had birdies on tenth, 16th, 18th, first and ninth.
Earlier, Andrew Dodt of Australia completed a great card of 68 despite a double bogey on the 16th and was placed at nine-under 135. Sharing the tied fourth spot with Dodt, were David Drysdale (67), Lam Chih-Bing (68) and South African-born Australian Darren Beck, who with a stunning 65, revived memories of his runner-up finish at the 2008 Indian Open.
Overnight leader Marcel Siem was two-under for the front nine and at 10-under for the tournament. But he dropped three shots in a row from 12th to 14th.
rounak