Perfect match for Randhawa on greens

Fresh on the heels of a superb second-place finish on the European PGA Tour, Jyoti Randhawa shot a seven-under 62 on the second day to share...

Fresh on the heels of a superb second-place finish on the European PGA Tour, Jyoti Randhawa shot a seven-under 62 on the second day to share a six-way lead at the $700,000 Omega Hong Kong Open today.

Randhawa, who moved on to the top spot on the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit last Sunday after finishing second in Taiwan, led the event along with veteran Zimbabwean Tony Johnstone (65), Taiwan’s Wang Ter-Chang (64), Swedes Marten Olander (64) and Klas Eriksson (64), Welshman Stephen Dodd (65) and Norway’s Henrik Bjornstad (62).

Another Indian pro Arjun Singh also found his way into the top 10, with a card of three-under 66 to total seven-under 132 at par-69 Hong Kong golf club course. Arjun had a four-under 65 on the first day, according to information received here today.

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Overnight and first round leader Amandeep Johl, who had a six-under 63 on the first day, slipped down the leaderboard with a two-over 71, which saw him go down to tied 35th position with a total of four-under 134.

Vivek Bhandari was another one to make the cut, as he brought home a card of two-under 67 to total three-under 135 and was placed tied 44th. Randhawa played the back nine in five-under-par 30 and is nine under for the tournament, which is joint-sanctioned by the Asian PGA-run Davidoff Tour and the European Tour.

“My wife (Tina) caddied for me today as my caddie (and yoga teacher) Sukhdev Singh had to go for a visa. Tina obviously brought me luck and I think I will ask her to caddie for me at the weekend,” Randhawa said.

Harmeet Kahlon, with a total of one-over 139 (69 and 70) was tied 89th after two days, while Gaurav Ghei (72 and 68) and Arjun Atwal (73 and 67) totalled two-over 140 and missed the cut.

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Also missing the cut was Indian Open champion, Vijay Kumar, who had a round of six-over 75 on the first day and one-over 70 on the second day for a total of seven-over 145 for tied 124th place.Thonchai Jaidee of Thailand, who is chasing Randhawa for the Order of Merit title, just made the cut at one-under 137 with rounds of 68 and 69 on two days. He was placed tied 64th.