In the longer shadows of the afternoon,Chapchai Nirat missed a crazily short birdie putt on the 10th hole,just about managed to roll in from seven feet to save par on the 11th,and then into the trees on the right off his drive on the 13th,two-putted after an ordinary chip to drop a shot. As the sun disappeared behind the hills that wrap themselves around the Classic Golf Resort on Thursday,the Thai still finished with a second straight ten-under round to aggregate 20-under at the Asian Tour event,the lowest two-day score on the Asian Tour ever. The previous best,17-under,was also held by Nirat,along with David Howell and Frankie Minoza. His course record,however,is now only shared glory. Indian youngster Anirban Lahiri was chattering away in the morning with his caddy,his playing partners,even his ball,and the last on that list definitely listened and obeyed. Lahiris 10-under with 10 birdies was constructed mostly on the front nine with efficient approach shots. He was four-under in four holes,eight-under in 10,and though slowing down just that bit on the back nine,kept it error-less. I was putting myself under a lot of pressure for some time,feeling that I hadnt been playing up to my potential. So when I started with four birdies in the first four holes,I decided I was going to stay calm and not get too excited. Im glad it worked, Lahiri said after his round. His jump from 96th place after an even-par round one to tied 10th may be spectacular,but the 21-year-old is still not the best Indian on the scoreboard. That spot has been taken by somebody even younger and less experienced. Gaganjeet Bhullar has been working with a mind coach,and obediently followed the latters pre-round instruction of shooting an eight-under. He made eight birdies,maintaining the mantra of getting the iron-play right. 13-under 131,Bhullar is in fourth place. New Zealands Mark Pursers nine-under had him elated and at an otherwise brilliant 16-under 128,but he is still four shots back from Nirat,in second. Purser,with a Commonwealth Games badminton bronze medallist for a father,says he was a little crazy to take up golf professionally,but in his rookie season on the Asian Tour,he already had two top-10s from his two tournaments before this. Thai Wisut Artjanawat,who shared the second place with Purser after Day One,is now third after his eight-under 64,at 15-under 129. Steady putting The errors of Thursday had been absent from Nirats perfect ten-birdie round of the first day,but the brilliance was still the same. His 11 birdies were marked by immaculately controlled iron-play and such steady putting that he only needed one putt on each of his first six holes of the day. On the par-five ninth,he almost got his first eagle,but having been on the green in two,his putt from 25 feet stopped just about an inch short. Having made the turn at seven-under,a huge drive on the par-four 12th was followed by an ordinary chip on,but the long 15-foot putt fell in to put him on eight-under. The loss of shot with his first bogey in almost two days of golf,on the 13th,was immediately corrected on the par-five 14th with a save from the bunker that left him just about two feet for a birdie. There was a tap-in on the 16th,having hit right on top of the pin,and another eagle miss on the finishing hole,as the ball stopped at the edge of the hole. Leaderboard 1 Chapchai Nirat (THA) 20-under 124 2 Mark Purser (NZL) 16-under 128 3 Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 15-under 129 4 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 13-under 131 5 Mardan Mamat (SIN),Antonio Lascuna (PHI) 12-under 132 7 Richard Moir (AUS),Prom Meesawat (THA),Mars Pucay (PHI) 11-under 133 10 Shiv Kapur (IND),Anirban Lahiri (IND),Will Yanagisawa (USA),C Muniyappa (IND),Rahil Gangjee (IND) 10-under 134
