By IANS,
Jeju Island (South Korea) : Shiv Kapur overcame a topsy-turvy day to stay in the hunt for weekend action at the truncated Ballantine’s Championships golf, an event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, as he carded a 73 that pegged him at one-over for two days.
Kapur was the best placed Indian at tied 10th among those who had played two full rounds.
In the tournament reduced to 54 holes, because of inclement weather Thursday, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee kept up his title defence by carding a second round five-under-par 67 to take a share of the clubhouse lead.
Among other Indians, Gaganjeet Bhullar (68) in his first round was best placed to make a charge in next two rounds. He was yet to complete his second round.
Jyoti Randhawa had also finished his second round with a 74 that left him at two-over and in danger of missing the cut. Muniyappa had played rounds of 73 and 74, while, Himmat Rai (82-76) and Anirban Lahiri (77-85) were sure to miss the cut.
Kapur, starting from 10th had a birdie-birdie start, but then dropped four bogeys in next six holes. He steadied himself over next 11 holes with one birdie and no bogeys for a 73.
Argentina’s Tano Goya posted a 70 to move atop the leaderboard alongside Thongchai on a two-day total of eight-under-par 136 while two-time Asian Tour winner Johan Edfors of Sweden added a 71 to his opening 68 to take equal sixth at the 2.2 million euros (approximately $2.9 million) showpiece that is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the Korea PGA.
The opening round fog disruption where almost six hours of play was lost left officials with no choice but to reduce the tournament to three rounds so as to ensure a Sunday finish.
“Following the delays to the first round on Thursday, and after reviewing the amount of golf completed yesterday, it has become clear that the completion of 72 holes within the required time frame is not feasible. Therefore the 2010 Ballantine’s Championship will be decided over three rounds (54 holes),” said Tournament Directors, Tamprasert (Asian Tour) and John Paramor (European Tour) in a joint statement.
Asian Tour honorary member Y.E Yang, meanwhile, is staring at the possibility of missing the cut after carding rounds of 77 and 73.