By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
Gurgaon : Birdies acted as ‘energy boosters’ for flu-hit Shiv Kapur as he put to good use a tip from India’s amateur champion of yesteryears Vikramjit Singh and shot a flawless seven-under 65 to rocket up the leaderboard into the tied first at 10-under at the midway stage of the Johnnie Walker Classic Friday.
Kapur with 134 shared the top spot with Korea-born, Singapore-based Australian Unho Park (66). And the duo was one ahead of former Asia No.1 Jyoti Randhawa (65) and Tiger Woods-fan Taichiro Kiyota (67), who were tied for third.
Jeev Milkha Singh (70) managed to salvage a round that seemed to be slipping away with two birdies on last two holes to be six-under 138 in tied 13th place, while Rahil Gangjee (71) blew a brilliant start of four-under through eight holes to be five-under 139 at shared 19th place along with Arjun Singh (70).
Confirming the growing strength of Indian golf, as many as 11 of the 18 Indians who started the week will continue to battle into the weekend. The others still on course were Digvijay Singh (70) at four-under 140 in tied 28th, Gaganjeet Bhullar (69) and Arjun Atwal (72) at three-under 141 in tied 40th place, Mukesh Kumar (69), Rahul Ganapathy (69) and Gaurav Ghei (70) at two-under 142 in tied 48th place.
Beware the wounded Tiger, goes the old cliché and no one exemplified it better than Kapur, who had contemplated pulling out before the start because of a persistent flu.
Talking of his low energy levels, he added: “My caddie (Babu Ram Thakur) told me at the start the best energy booster would be to get birdies. And it’s funny how energized you feel after a birdie and how it can disappear after a bogey.”
Kapur had five birdies and a brilliant eagle on the sixth, where he hit his 5-Iron second shot to within 10 feet and holed it.
“Vikramjit Singh, five times All India amateur champion, called me last night and gave me a great tip. He said ‘Keep the hand soft’ and it really worked. I am going to keep it that over the weekend,” said Kapur.
Playing in a two-ball, after Ewan Porter withdrew — he had a 77 in first round — Kapur and his partner Gregory Havret often had to wait as the group ahead was a three-ball.
Playing on his home course, Randhawa, Asia’s number one in 2002, said a change in mindset helped him produce a seven-birdie round.
Falling by the wayside was first round co-leader Shamim Khan (76), who dropped four shots in last four holes to miss the cut by one as the cut came at two-under 142. Also making an early exit was Indian Masters winner, S.S.P.Chowrasia (73) at one-over 145.
Ashok Kumar, 11th last week at SAIL Open, shot a 69, but still finished at four-over 148 and missed the cut. Others Indians exiting were C. Muniyappa (77) at seven-over, 2002 Indian Open winner, Vijay Kumar (77) at eight-over for the two rounds, Harmeet Kahlon (82), the 2002 Hero Honda Masters champion and Vivek Bhandari (77), both at 11-over.
Big international names taking an early flight home included Colin Montgomerie (76) at six-over, Ian Poulter (68) at even par, Chinese legend Zhang Lian-wei (69) at one-over, Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley 72) a two-over, Singapore Masters champion Mardan Mamat (70) at even par and a host of other leading European names.
Jeev three-under after six, dropped to even par when he double bogeyed the fifth — his 14th hole — but the last two birdies ensured he had not lost it completely. With his two-under 70, he was at six-under 138 and still very much in the picture.
Scott, winner of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing in 2005, produced a second straight 68 to lie two off the pace and in tied fifth spot with Philip Archer (64), Graeme Storm (66) and Jose Manuel Lara (67).