By V Krishnaswamy, IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi Golf Club did not spare its favourite Jyoti Randhawa, but his brother-in-law Digvijay Singh and Arjun Atwal kept the Indian flag flying by moving into the top-10 at the midway stage of the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters on Friday.
As Randhawa paid a heavy price for errant play on a windy and cold day with a five-over 77 to fall off the top spot, Ireland’s Damien McGrane showed that his two rounds with World No. 1 Tiger Woods last week in Dubai had raised his confidence levels to a new high. McGrane added a three-under-par 69 to his first round 67 to take pole position at eight-under 136 at the halfway stage of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the organisers heaved a big sigh of relief as the top drawcard South African Ernie Els (70) made the cut at one-over 145 after looking to be in trouble with a bogey on his starting hole on Friday.
McGrane took a two-shot lead while South African Hendrik Buhrmann, a regular in India since 1995 — he was third in the 2005 Indian Open — fired a second straight 69 to tie for second place alongside Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (69) and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (69).
“The temperature was very cold out there today and it really was a lot more difficult than yesterday. So a three under par is a good number and I’m happy enough with it today,” said McGrane.
Arjun Atwal (70) and Digvijay Singh (70) were in the bunch of six players at four-under 140 in tied sixth place.
“The year 2007 was a big disappointment and the birth of my second son, Shiva, was the high point. But I worked a lot on my golf back in Orlando and it is paying off now,” said Atwal, who will play five weeks in a row in Asia and then go back to US for the Nationwide.
“Hopefully I can win three times on Nationwide and make the PGA Tour or finish high enough to get the card.”
Though Randhawa was knocked off the top and Jeev Milkha Singh had another awful day in office to miss the cut with a second 77 in succession, there was ample Indian interest in the top-10.
Leading the Indian challenge at four-under 140 each were Arjun Atwal and Digvijay Singh. Both shot 70s on the second day, just as they did on the first.
Overall 14 of the 29 Indian professionals who started off made the cut making it a very successful tournament for Indian golf.
S.S.P. Chowrasia sizzled on his second nine — the front half of the course — with two birdies and an eagle. Despite a closing hole bogey on ninth, he finished with a 71 that gave him a total of three-under 141 in tied 12th place.
Randhawa with just two birdies, four bogeys and a triple was two-under 142 and tied for 14th place.
Other Indians making the cut were Gaurav Ghei (75-69) and Amandeep Johl (73-71) at three-under in tied 31st, Harmeet Kahlon (70-75) and Ashok Kumar (72-73) at one-over in tied 44th, Shiv Kapur (68-78) and C.Muniyappa (69-77) at two-over and in tied 55th place.
The 1991 and 1993 Indian Open champion, Ali Sher, the veteran of Indian golf, shot a superb two-under 70 to make up for his first round 77 and make the cut at three-over 147 in tied 64th spot. Also sneaking in at the same score were Rahul Ganapathy (76-71), Randhir Singh Ghotra (74-73) and Shamim Khan (73-74).
Starting on the back nine, McGrane was even-par after nine holes but the 36-year-old Irishman battled the chills at Delhi Golf Club coming in with a 69.
“I’ve been playing well lately, so all I need to do is just keep doing the same thing and hit as many good shots as I can and I seemed to hole a few putts when I had birdie chance. So, that’s all I need to do.”
Thanks to the support of his caddie Inderpal, South African veteran Buhrmann was pleased with his 69 competing in a country, which saw him lift his maiden Asian Tour title in 2006.
Randhawa who carded a triple bogey on the sixth hole after his tee shot found the bushes and his fourth the bunker, said “It was a disastrous round. I started with a bogey and nothing went right and somewhere in the middle I seemed to have lost focus.”
Yet, the man who with five titles on this course – four of them in Asian Tour events – was strong enough to say: “But still under par and going into the weekend, I still have a chance.”