Jeev stays in the hunt

NEW DELHI, NOV 26: Jeev Singh added a two-over 74 to the first round 71 to be one over 145 midway through the Casio World Open Golf tourn...

NEW DELHI, NOV 26: Jeev Singh added a two-over 74 to the first round 71 to be one over 145 midway through the Casio World Open Golf tournament in Ibusuki, Japan.

The field was being led by Japanese Naomichi Ozaki, who shot a brilliant eight under 64 to be nine under 135 after two rounds. Ozaki shared the lead with countryman Tatusuhiko Takhashi, who followed up his first 69 with a six under 66 in the second round. The duo was three strokes clear of two other Japanese Seiki Okuda 138 (69, 69) and Toshimitsu Izawa (68, 70). Overnight leader Taichi Teshima slipped with a 72 in second round and is now at five-under 139, while his co-leader Hank Kuehne went three over and is now at at two under 142.

Campbell leads
Sydney: New Zealander Michael Campbell, riding the crest of a wave from vanquishing Tiger Woods in Taiwan a fortnight ago, surged to the halfway lead in the Australian Golf Open at Royal Sydney here on Friday. The 30-year-old Kiwi, relishing the windy conditions, swept homebirdie-birdie-birdie-birdie to edge out exciting 18-year-old local amateur Aaron Baddeley with a brilliant seven-under round of 65. Campbell posted a 10-under 134 to lead Baddeley by a shot on nine-under 135 with locals, Brendan Jones (66-70) and Nick O’Hern (68-68) joint third at 136.

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Seven times European Order of Merit champion Colin Montgomerie moved into contention after his five-under 67 to lie five shots adrift of Campbell in equal 11th place. But six-time major champion Nick Faldo and Greg Norman struggled. Faldo got to seven-under for the tournament after six holes but gave back five shots to finish with a two-over 74 and be joint 26th on two-under 142. Norman was a shot further back on 143 after a one-over 73.

SERVO MASTERS
Calcutta: About 80 professional and amateur golfers from Britain and India would be vying for honours at Digboi Club Golf Links which will hold the Rs 7.5 lakh Servo Masters Golf to be played at the par-72, 6,309-yard course from Dec 1-5.

The Servo Masters willform the 10th leg of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour and is sponsored by the Assam Oil Division of the Indian Oil Corporation.