Jeev Milkha Singh watches his shot during the second round of the EPGA Ballantine’s Championship in Jeju, South Korea, on Friday

Jeju: Jeev Milkha Singh came up with a disciplined performance to card a six-under 66 in the second round and maintain his tied second spot in the $2.9 million Ballantine’s Championship.

Jeev, with a total of 10-under 134 lies two strokes behind northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who carded an enviable eight-under 64 to jump to the top of the leaderboard with an overall 12-under 132. The Indian pro shares the second spot with Johan Edfors of Sweden.

Jyoti Randhawa, who shared the second spot with compatriot Jeev on Thursday, equalled the par to be four-under 140 for the tied 19th place with nine others in the co-sanctioned event.

Gaurav Ghei was the other Indian just to have made the cut with a par-72 Friday after his par show Thursday, while Shiv Kapur missed out at the halfway mark after his one-over performance.

After playing six straight pars, Jeev birdied on the seventh and ninth holes of the front nine. Then he improved his performance considerably to get birdies on the 10th, 13th, 15th and 17th holes before completing his bogey-free day at the Pinx Golf Club.

Randhawa had a disappointing outing as the Indian met with bogeys twice in each half.

He started off on a bright note by firing an eagle on the 10th hole as he began the day at the back nine. But he bogeyed the next hole and repeated the mistake again in the 17th hole.

In the front nine, Randhawa had two birdies against two bogeys which worsened his plight as he ended the day with a total of four-under 140 and severely hampering his title aspirations.

McDowell had six birdies and an eagle to go to 12 under, two strokes clear of Edfors.

A late birdie rush had given Paul McGinley the early clubhouse lead, the Irishman shooting a 67 in gusty winds on the resort island of Jeju to reach the halfway stage at nine under.

McGinley was joined on nine under by South Korea’s Kim Hyung-tae after blustery conditions had delayed the start of the round by more than two hours at Pinx Golf Club.

A total of 47 players were unable to finish their rounds in fading light, McDowell among those who had to rush to get through the 18 holes.

“The sun was dropping pretty quickly,” McDowell told reporters. “It was pretty dark out there at the end. It’s a massive help to get a little bit of a lie-in tomorrow.”

McDowell credited playing partner Thomas Bjorn for his low scoring in Jeju.

“We’ve been helping each other out a little bit,” said McDowell, twice a winner on the European Tour. “He gave me a bunker lesson and some putting tips yesterday.”

Bjorn recorded seven straight threes in a round of 66 but slipped away over the back nine as temperatures dropped and the light deteriorated, holing out on eight under par.

Edfors’ 65 included a chip-in eagle at the par-five 10th, while Jeev, still suffering dizzy spells after crashing his golf buggy into a palm tree at last week’s Malaysian Open, produced a 66 for a share of second place. McGinley, meanwhile, said the heavy winds had helped him during Friday’s round.

“The wind made me feel like Tiger Woods,” he said. “I still hit the ball a hell of a lot further than I used to but there’s only so much I can do — I’m five foot seven and have Irish genes.”

Kim joined McGinley at nine under after shooting 66.

(Agencies)