By IANS
Honolulu : Daniel Chopra found the going tough on the fairways on the second day and ended with a one-over 71 that saw him slip to 32nd, down from tied fifth in the Sony Open Friday.
Chopra, winner of the first event this season last week at Mercedes Benz Championships, is now three-under 137 for two days.
Up ahead there was a strong Korean touch to the leaderboard with K.J. Choi adding a 65 to his first day’s 64 and was now 11-under 129 for two rounds and a clear two shots ahead of Kevin Na, who is of also of Korean origin, but now carries an American passport.
Na, who had a 67 on first day, shot 64 and was a clear second at nine-under 131 jumping up from overnight 14th. Steve Marino of the US, tied second overnight slipped to third with 67 that places him at eight-under 132.
Indo-Swede Chopra, who had a flawless card on first day, went through a topsy-turvy round with an eagle on par-five ninth, two birdies and five other bogeys. His putting might have shown better numbers with 28, as compared to 33 on first day, but his iron play fell dramatically and he found only 50 percent fairways as against a cent percent record on the first day.
Chopra opened on the first tee and after five pars, he had back-to-back bogeys on sixth and seventh, but an eagle on ninth saw him turn in even par.
Things looked better with a birdie on par-4 tenth, but bogeys on 11th, 14th and 17th saw him struggle again. A closing birdie on 18th made up as he ended with a 71.
Two players including the experienced Fred Funk (64) and Jimmy Walker (67) second overnight were tied for fourth at seven-under 133.
A week ago, Choi was right at the back of the pack in the Mercedes-Benz featuring 31 winners of last year.