Arjun opens three-stroke lead

Arjun Singh played faultless golf for the second successive day and opened a three-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Rs three million Honda-Siel PGA Championship at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club course on Friday.

The biggest prize-money event on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour saw Arjun Singh aggregate 11-under 133 following a bogey-free three-under 69..

Mukesh Kumar shot a two-under 70 and remained in second place with a tally of eight-under 136.

Twice champion Uttam Singh Mundy moved up to third place at six-under 138, while there was a three-way tie between Daniel Chopra, Rohtas Singh and Shiv Prakash for the joint fourth place at five-under 139.

The cut was applied at seven-over 151 and exactly 50 pros made it to the money-making rounds.

Also advancing to the third round were ten amateurs, led by Keshav Mishra who shot the day's best card of five-under 67.

Arjun started with a birdie on the par-5 first, and then added two more on the par-3 seventh and the par-4 15th. The seventh was a particularly pleasing birdie for the Delhi-based pro who drained a 20 footer there.

"After an eight-under 64 round, it was going to be difficult shooting a low number. I am very happy with my 69," said Arjun, who would be gunning for his fourth 'major' title on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour.

However, the fact that he could not make birdies on three of the four par-5s, hurt Arjun.

"The fact that I could not exploit the par-5s was very frustrating. I am contemplating a change of strategy by using the driver instead of three-wood on the par-5s tomorrow," added Arjun.

Mukesh had two distinct phases during his round - the front nine where he could do no wrong, and the back nine, where the putts just won't drop. After starting with back-to-back birdies on the first and the second, Mukesh added another on the sixth to make the turn at three-under. However, his putter lost all heat from the 10th onwards.

On the 10th, he missed a two-footer par putt and then a three-footer on the 15th for his second bogey. On the 16th, he three-putted from 25 feet and then missed a three-footer for birdie on the final hole.

"I am really disgusted by the way I played the back nine. The putts just won't drop. It was all the more frustrating as I played the first nine so well," said the Order of Merit leader.

"I am not too worried at this stage. Eight-under is good enough after two rounds," he added.

Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa was in tied 11th place at two-under 142.

Keshav, Simareet lead amateurs: Keshav Mishra of Delhi shot a five-under 67, the best card of the day, to be in joint lead amongst the amateurs along with Simarjeet Singh, an employee of Indian Oil, at four-under 140.

Scores (after 36 holes): 133 _ Arjun Singh (64,69); 136 _ Mukesh Kumar (66,70); 138 _ Uttam Singh Mundy (68,70); 139 _ Daniel Chopra (70,69), Amritinder Singh (70,69), Digvijay Singh (70,69), Rohtas Singh (69,70), Shiv Prakash (68,71); 140 _ Rafiq Ali (72,68), Harmeet Kahlon (69,71); 142 _ Jyoti Randhawa (71,71), Rahil Gangjee (70,72), Amit Dube (69,73); 143 _ Vijay Kumar (72,71), Gaurav Ghei (69,74); 144 _ Feroz Ali (72,72), S Murthy (73,71).

Amateurs: 140 _ Keshav Mishra (73,67), Simarjeet Singh (68,72); 144 _ Ashok Kumar (76,68); 145 _ Kapil Dev (73,72), Jasjeet Singh (73,72)