Ashok, Firoz share 2nd spot

Seeking his first win on the Asian Tour, the South African emerged as the leader with a six-under par 66 — narrowly missing the course record set by young Shiv Kapur last year. While attributing his success partly to experience, Buhrmann said the tremendous change in golfing equipment over the years, has made it particularly easier for senior golfers to continue competing.

“The technology has improved tremendously. With my old set of clubs and equipment, I doubt if I could have played as well.”

Meanwhile, Pune lad Jaideep Patwardhan withdrew from the tournament after injuring his right knee while stretching in the morning. Another Pune-lad in the fray, Rajiv Datar struggled in his first Asian Tour event, carding a nine-over par 81.

LEADERBOARD : 66 Hendrik Buhrmann; 67 Ashok Kumar, Adam Groom, Firoz Ali, Simon Hurd 68 Keith Horne and Simon Griffiths; 69 Corey Harris, Martin Rominger, Kane Webber, Mukesh Kumar, Jarrod Moseley, Luke Hickmott, Airil Rizman Zahari and Uttam Singh Mundy; 70 Marcus Both, Barry Hume, Dinesh Kumar, Shaaban Hussein, Pat Giles, S.S.P. Chowrasia; 71 Bryan Saltus, Simon Nash, Gurbaaz Mann, Pornsakon Tipsanit, James Stewart, Michael Wright, Amandeep Johl, Jason King, Yasin Ali

LEADING INDIANS: 72 Pappan, Ali Sher, C. Muniyappa, Ranjit Singh; 73 Rahil Gangjee, Rafiq Ali, Digvijay Singh; 74 Jumman, Gaurav Ghei, Amardip Malik, Shiv Prakash, Rahul Ganapathy, Vivek Bhandari, Harinder Gupta and Amritinder Singh.