Jeev is glad to be chased by countrymen

Calcutta: Ace golfer Jeev Milkha Singh shot a level-par round on Day II, but still managed to hold on to the lead in the $300,000 Hero Honda Masters, the 14th leg of the Asian PGA Tour, being played at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club, on Friday.

Jeev, who shot a six-under 66 on the opening day, tallied six-under 138 at the halfway stage, thus enjoying a one-stroke advantage over the Indian trio of Vijay Kumar, Digvijay Singh and Pappan, who were tied for the second place at five-under 139, according to information received here.

Current Order of Merit leader Arjun Atwal shot a round of one-under 71 and was tied for the fifth place along with Jaiveer Virk of India and Anthony Kang of Korea at four-under 140. Asia’s No 1 golfer in 2002, Jyoti Randhawa, Sanya Open winner Marcus Both and multiple winner of Asian PGA Tour, Gerry Norquist of USA were among four tied for eight at three-under 141.

The cut was applied at four-over 148. As many as 73 players made it to the money-making rounds. This included 35 Indian professionals and two amateurs — Harinder Gupta and Vikrant Chopra.

Jeev started from the 10th tee. His round comprised three birdies — on the 18th, first and ninth. It also included three bogeys – on the 13th, 16th and seventh. He finished off in style though, a brilliant six-iron second shot landing to three feet from the pin.

“I have no complains about my ball striking today. However, unlike yesterday, my putts just did not drop. It gets a lot tougher playing in the afternoon as the greens dry up. It will be an interesting battle over the next two days and I am really glad to see three of my countrymates chasing me,”said the 32-year-old.