Shiv jumps to tied second

Having played only nine holes because of a fog-delayed start to the tournament.

Twenty eight-year-old Shiv Kapur moved up 51 places to tied 2nd to keep the Indian interest alive in the 1.8 million euro Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club. Shiv hasnt had a great start to the year. He missed the cut in all four Tour events but he found his touch on Friday with a blemish free 7-under 65 (137 to par) in the second round to be one stroke behind the clubhouse leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello from Spain.

Having played only nine holes on Thursday because of a fog-delayed start to the tournament,Shiv had a tough task of playing 27 holes on Friday. He made an average start in the morning to complete the remaining nine holes from his first round,and though his wedges and the putter helped him finish on par,none of his tee shots landed on the fairway.

But when he started the second round after a 30-minute break,none of the error-filled hitting that marked his first round were on display. Starting on the back nine,he made birdies on the 11th,16th,17th and 18th.

Story continues below this ad

Rising gradually on the leaderboard,his card remained bogey-free on the front nine as well after a birdie on the 6th and he sank a 25 feet putt on the 8th for another. Though he was inside the fairway on the 9th,he was frustrated when his approach shot didnt land as he had planned,but still went ahead and made a birdie with a15 footer putt.

Shiv thanks his four-month partnership with his new coach Jamie Gough for the turnaround in his game. I was really struggling in the past few weeks,so I asked Gough to come help me out this week. Only after I had a small session with him in the break,things started coming together for me, Shiv said.

Meanwhile,Bello was leading with 10-under before he dropped a shot on the 7th hole. Again on the 9th hole (his last),his second shot went into the water hazard giving him a stroke penalty,ending the day with 8-under 136.

Meanwhile,Jeev Milkha Singh shot a 3-under and is also tied second (7-under to par),but he is yet to finish seven holes of play in the second round. Rashid Khan slipped 20 positions to be tied 27th along with defending champion Andrew Dodt. Gaganjeet Bhullar will just about manage making the cut with his 1-under 143 but Jyoti Randhawa and Anirban Lahiri may not be as lucky.