Jyoti Randhawa holed a huge 25-footer on the 18th and final hole to keep himself in the frame when the putts just refused to fall for the Indian at the US $1.2 million UBS Hong Kong Open.
Randhawa, two-over for the day at the stage, finished at one-over and was four-under 136 at midway stage in the 11th place to be still at a fair distance for the bigger honours over the weekend.
Five of the seven Indians made the cut. Randhawa was the best at tied 11th, five off the lead, held by Canadian Rick Gibson, whose second round was a 66 with five birdies and one bogey at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
Gibson, who came to Hong Kong after a three-week break was one clear of southpaw Edward Loar, whose six-under 64 helped him to eight-under for 36 holes.
Jeev Milkha Singh was the only Indian with two sub-par rounds of 69 each and at two-under he was tied 20th.
Shiv Kapur, who found 15 greens in regulation had just three birdies to show for it, as he too had a frustrating day on the greens. He carded a 70 and was at one-under 139 in tied 34th, while Gaurav Ghei was tied 47th at even par. Amandeep Johl just made the cut with a 69 that included a jumpy par on the 18th. He was tied 60th at one over.
Rahil Gangjee (144), Harmeet Kahlon (148) missed the cut, as did Indo-Swede Daniel Chopra (149).
Randhawa was convinced that he played better than the first day.
"I hit well and reached the greens fine, but just could not find the birdies on the greens. It was quite disappointing. But that final one from about 25 feet gives him a good feel for tomorrow," said the highest-ranked Indian.
Randhawa began with a bogey on the first and that seemed to have derailed his concentration that affected his play. He had four bogeys, including two on 14th and 16th and just three birdies.
Jeev displayed a lot of patience with a string of eight pars from ninth to 16th and then a birdie on 17th buoyed him further. Just then he dropped a shot on the closing hole.
"Still I am in a decent position," said Jeev.
Ghei salvaged a day that was threatening to go out of hand with two double bogeys in first five holes. He finished with a string of good pars and a birdie on 17th to come to 72 and a total of even par for two days.
Johl has a lot to fight for as he needs a good finish, around top- 40 to make the top-60, which will earn him a berth in Volvo Masters next week.
"I have been hitting the ball well, getting the lines right on the greens, but somehow the ball is not dropping in."
After opening with an excellent 65, Gibson continued his solid progress with a second round 66 for a nine under par total of 131 and a one shot lead over his fellow Asian Tour regular Edward Loar of the United States, with Sweden's Martin Erlandsson third on seven under par 133.
The group of players who finished on five under par 135 included Montgomerie, who moved effortlessly up the leaderboard with a flawless 66.
Leader Gibson returned to competitive action this week after having had three weeks at home practicing and admitted he felt a little rusty and apprehensive in the early stages.
But five birdies in his second round to go with the seven he garnered in round one, soon put him at ease.
Leading scores:
131: Rick Gibson (65-66)
132: Edward Loar (68-64)
133: Martin Erlandsson (65-68)
134: Andrew Butterfield (69-65), Kang Wook-Soon (64-70)
135: Francois Delamontagne (66-69), Colin Montgomerie (69-66), Scott Strange (71-64), Soren Kjeldsen (66-69), Marcus Both (67-68)
136: Marc Cayeux (68-68), Thongchai Jaidee (68-68), Jyoti
Randhawa (65-71), Miguel Angel Jimenez (69-67)
137: Lin Keng-Chi (68-69), Thaworn Wiratchant (69-68), Jose Manuel Lara (67-70), James Kingston (68-69), Terry Pilkadaris (69-68)
Indian scores:
136: Jyoti Randhawa (65-71)
138: Jeev Milkha SINGH (69-69) tied 20th
139: Shiv Kapur (69-70) tied 34th
140: Gaurav Ghei (68-72) tied 47th
141: Amandeep Johl (72-69) tied 60th
Missed cut:
144: Rahil Gangjee (75-69) tied 92nd
148: Harmeet Kahlon (74-74) tied 118th
149: Daniel Chopra (74-75) tied 123rd.
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