Mukesh emerges leader, Pappan plummets

There were some well-known names — Uttam Singh Mundy of Calcutta and Amandeep Johl (Chandigarh) — who failed to make the cut, applied at 150.Mukesh had a dream start firing birdies on the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes. "Five-under-par after six holes and I was looking forward to break the course record," said Mukesh. But bogeys on the eighth and 14th holes messed up his plans. The miss on eighth was more frustrating for him when he bungled a simple four-feet putt.

Pappan’s brilliant run of day one ended when he went four-over today. He dropped shots thrice in front nine and had four bogeys on his return. But thanks to the first day’s brilliance, he has a total of 137 after 36 holes, the same as Amritinder who fired a 71 today. Following them a stroke behind was Shiv Prakash who parred the course.

Calcutta’s SSP Chowrasia had a particularly bad return journey today. Upto the 14th hole, he was two-under but dropped five shots on the next three holes to spoil his card. A birdie on the last, however, redeemed his performance and he is in the fourth spot with 139. Giving him company was Calcutta’s Rajeev Mohta.

Manohar Dighe (Mumbai), Feroze Ali and Yusuf Ali (both Delhi) fired the days second best rounds of 68.

Arjun Atwal, who gained entry to the prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic of the EPGA tour, Gaurav Ghei and Arjun Singh returned par scores today. Arjun recovered well after hitting a string of birdies from the 6th to 9th to go three-under on the front nine. He capped his round with an eagle on the 18th.

LEADERS (after 36 holes): 131- Mukesh Kumar (67+64); 137- Pappan (63+74), Amritinder Singh (66+71); 138- Shiv Prakash (68+70); 139- SSP Chowrasia (67+72), Rajeev Mohta (68+71); 140- Binod Pandey (67+73), Ali Sher (68+72), Arjun Singh (70+70), Feroz Ali (72+68); 141- Rafiq Ali (71+10), Arjun Atwal (71+70); 143- Yusuf Ali (75+68), Gaurav Ghei (73+70), Gast Ram (72+71), Manohar Dighe (75+68); 144- Mohd Islam (69+75), Vijay Kumar (69+75), Basad Ali (71+73), Vishal Singh (72+72); 145- Akbar Ali (71+74).