Belfry, Sep 27 (IANS) Two quick bogeys on resumption of the second round Saturday dampened Jeev Milkha Singh's euphoria of the rare hole-in-one he achieved on the seventh hole on Friday in the second round of the Quinn British Masters.
Shiv Kapur with a one-under 71 moved to one-under 143 and was placed tied 25th after second round.
However, Jyoti Randhawa's challenge ended with mid-round collapse that saw him bogey four holes between the 13th and the 18th. He finished with a round of 74 after a first round 75 and totalled five-over to miss the cut.
Jeev, three-under through 12 holes, had six holes to play Saturday morning. He came and played one hole, the 13th, which he bogeyed when play was suspended yet again. When they came back a little later, Jeev clearly took time to settle down and as a result dropped another shot on the 14th. But he went on to par the rest and end with a card of one-under 71 to move to four-under and tied seventh at the half way stage.
The third round began a little later.
Jeev was given a magnum of champagne for his hole-in-one effort. He was the third player in the day to do that. Others were England's Phillip Archer, who also aced the 177-yard seventh, while Spaniard Alvaro Quiros sank his tee shot to the 208-yard 12th. On Sunday the player nearest to the pin at the 12th wins a Jaguar car.
Earlier on Friday, Jeev shared provisional lead with defending champion Lee Westwood, who had completed his round and stood at six-under for two days.
Westwood continued to hold a share of the lead at six-under, but Jeev fell back. Westwood was joined in the lead by Alexander Noren, who shot a six-under 66 and was at six-under 136.
Alejandro Canizares (68), Ross Fisher (68), Thongchai Jaidee (68) and Marc Warren shared the third place at five-under 137.
Kapur is hoping for a good finish to give him some breathing space as he is presently ranked 110th on the European Order of Merit where the top-115 will retain their cards.
Jeev bogeyed the first but birdied the second only to drop a shot on fourth. He birdied the sixth and then aced the seventh to go two-under. Another birdie on the 11th brought him to three-under for the day and six-under for the tournament. One hole later play was called off due to darkness.
Jeev has already won two titles this year in Austria and Japan.
Kapur survived a double bogey on sixth, as he found a birdie spree with three in four holes from 10th.
The second day was marked as 'Pink Friday' with the players helping to raise money for breast cancer charities. The day was organised by the promoters, International Sports Management, who also manage Darren Clarke, who lost his wife to cancer. Clarke played the first two days with Jeev Milkha Singh.
|
|
Comments:
