Jeev Milkha Singh makes the cut, Johl flops

Tokyo, June 30 (UNI) A superb final-hole birdie kept Jeev Milkha Singh's hope alive while compatriot Amandeep Johl failed to make the cut at the end of second round of the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship here today.

Jeev, the current leader of the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, returned a hard-earned round of two-over 72 today for an aggregate of 142 and a tie for 19th place while Johl, playing on a sponsors' invitation this week, was not so fortunate. A second-round 77 saw him finish at nine-over par 149, missing the cut by three strokes.

Toru Taniguchi, whose four-under 66 followed an equally impressive 67 yesterday, leads at seven-under 133. Four players are tied for second four shots back at the 1.3 million dollar tournament, including evergreen 51-year-old Tommy Nakajima.

Given the challenging conditions at Shishido Hills this week, with only nine players under par after 36 holes, Jeev was proud of himself for hanging tough in the hot and humid conditions.

Jeev had a disappointing start with bogeys on second and third, but a birdie on fifth and then another on ninth with a bogey in between eighth saw him turn in one-over. He had bogeys on tenth, 12th and 13th, but birdies on 11th and 18th saw him end the day at 74 and a total of two-over 142.

''That was a great finish after not starting out too good.

I made a few mistakes and did not hit the ball in the fairway on a couple of occasions. It was an up and down round, but I finished off well. These last two holes are pretty tough, so I am pretty happy with the way I finished up,'' Jeev said at the end of the round.

Among the other big names, defending champion Kazuhiko Hosokawa, who emerged triumphant at Shishido Hills after a sudden-death play-off last year, finished on four-over 144, while Shingo Katayama withdrew after aggravating a knee injury.

UNI XC HSB PDS HS1828