Arjun Singh set for a happy weekend

Defending champion Arjun Singh regained his pro-am form, as he carded a five-under 66 at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday to take the lead at the halfway stage of the Honda Siel PGA Championship.

	Randhawa tied 2nd at Dunhill
Jyoti Randhawa was tied second at the end of second days play at the Dunhill Links Championship with a total of ten-under-par. Jyoti carded a 6 yesterday and followed it up by a 68 today, and joins Makeal Lundberg and Padraig Harrington, all three trailing overnight leader Eduardo Romero by one stroke. Meanwhile, Amandeep Johl was tied 34th with scores of 72 and 70, while Arjun Atwal was four-over and Jeev Milkha Singh five-over for two days. (SAS) Story continues below this ad

Having sounded warning bells to his fellow competitors after carding a similar score on Wednesday, Arjun was unimpressive yet consistent as he went around in 69 yesterday. However, he displayed his immaculate form as he carded a bogey-free five-under this afternoon to take his total to seven-under, 135, which gave him a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend. ‘‘Since the DLF greens are tricky I knew I just needed to be patient,’’ said Singh who just made one birdie in the first 11 holes – he birdied the par-three 11th after teeing off from the tenth.

‘‘However, my putts started dropping in the last seven holes,’’ added Arjun who birdied the third, fourth, sixth and ninth holes coming in. Overnight leader Ghei, who lead with his score of 69 yesterday, carded a one-under-par today to take his total to four-under, 138. ‘‘My hitting was inconsistent and I just managed to keep things together on the back nine,’’ said the Delhi pro.

Tied at second place, alongside Ghei are Abraham Jacques Coetsee and Yusuf Ali, the former carding a 66 to move up the leader board, while Yusuf Ali shot a three-under to improve his position further. Coetsee, amongst the few professionals who does not believe in beating balls on the driving range said: ‘‘I rope in seven rounds six days a week and work primarily on returning low scores consistently. I also never warm up before a round.’’

The South African followed his one-over, 72, on day one with a five-under-par today and was quite confident of his prospects over the next two days. ‘‘I’ve shot 66 today. Tomorrow it’ll be a 65 and then a 68 on the final day. I’ll win by three strokes,’’ he laughed, seriously adding that he was playing well enough to win.

A further stroke behind is Ashok Kumar with rounds of 70 and 69 to take his two-day total to 139, followed by Harmeet Kahlon, Rafiq Ali and Vijay Kumar at level par.

A few players sat under the shade of the large tree overshadowing the tenth tee, watching the last few groups come in. It was a quiet Friday; the players who played well having carded their low numbers, practiced and headed out, confident of returning tomorrow. Others had left knowing that they would survive the cut, or the not so fortunate ones, left knowing that they would have to wait till next week. Unlike Asian tour events, where players on the border sometimes wait for the entire field to come in on day two, watching every movement on the scoreboard, to see if they would get an opportunity to play over the weekend or not, there were no frantic players at the DLF Golf and Country club this evening.

However, the weekend promises a lot of excitement, as scores dip further, Arjun having already reached the target set by Harmeet Kahlon when he won the Hero Honda Masters played here in February.