Vijay Kumar fires 6-under to lead

CHENNAI, SEPT 2: Vijay Kumar of Lucknow showed why he is the best among the Indian pros with a superb round of six-under 66 which, added ...

CHENNAI, SEPT 2: Vijay Kumar of Lucknow showed why he is the best among the Indian pros with a superb round of six-under 66 which, added to his three-under in the first round, took him to the top of the leaderboard after Day 2 of the Rs 7 lakh Cosmo-Hindu Open Golf, the season-opener of the Wills Sport Tour, today.

Delhi8217;s Ali Sher, the overnight leader with a seven-under, had a horrendous round and returned five-over that pulled him down to sixth position. Shiv Prakash, Feroz Ali and Amritinder Singh were joint second at 140, five strokes behind the leader, while Gaurav Ghei, overnight second with a five-under went two-over today to be placed fifth at 141.

Starting from the 10th tee, Vijay Kumar made the day his own as he attacked the greens with gusto, and came up with an eagle and seven birdies as he finished the first nine at four-under and the return at two-under.

Vijay8217;s card would have looked even better but for a missed eagle putt from eight feet on the par-5 6th as he two-putted for a birdie.But he made up for the miss8217; on the par-5 7th which he eagled after a Driver and a 4-iron set him up for a 25 feet uphill putt.

Another notable shot was the three-wood to green on the seventh, against the wind, which typified his aggressive intent.

Vijay Kumar dubbed his putting as horrendous, but his confidence was as high as it could be, as he confessed later that he was eyeing a third consecutive Player of the Year8217; award.

The day8217;s second best card was credited to Uttam Singh Mundy who came in with a four-under 68, inclusive of five birdies on the first nine, followed by one bogey on the return.

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Though the spotlight was very much on the professionals, 52 of whom made the cut, CV Yudhvir turned in a fine card of two-under 70 to speak up for the amateurs and which put him joint 17th along with eight others, with a two-round total of 146.

The Top Scores

Professionals: 135 8211; Vijay Kumar 69,66; 140 8211; Shiv prakash 71,69, Feroz Ali 70,70, Amritinder Singh 70,70; 141 8211; Gaurav Ghei67,74; 142 8211; Rejwan Ali 69,73, Ali Sher 65,77; 143 8211; Uttam Singh Mundy 75,68, Bhoop Singh 71,72; Gast Ram 69,74, Manohar Dike 72,71; 144 8211; Rohtas Singh 74,70, Mukesh Kumar 70,74; 145 8211; Amit Dube 72,73, Sanjay Kumar 71,74, Devendra Patel 70,75.

Amateurs: 146 8211; CV Yudhvir 76,70; 153 8211; Gaurav Sayal 76,77; 154 8211; D Nagaraj 76,78; 155 8211; Vivek V Raghavan 75, 80.