Randhawa slips from lead, joins Jeev at tied 6th; Chowrasia ousted

Hong Kong, Nov 17 (UNI) Overnight joint leader Jyoti Randhawa slipped to join compatriot Jeev Milkha Singh at tied sixth after his putter went cold during his average second round of one-under 69 in the two million dollar UBS Hong Kong Open here today.

Kolkata pro SSP Chowrasia came a cropper at the Hong Kong Golf Course and failed to make the cut after a poor second round of two-over 72. The golfer with a magical short game had gone four-over 74 in his opening round and needed a vastly improved show today to stay in the hunt.

After rounds of 73 and 70, Harmeet Kahlon also fell by the wayside.

While Randhawa slipped, the other overnight leader Jose Manuel Lara, however, managed to stay at the top with a round of four-under 66, mixing five birdies against the lone bogey on the ninth hole.

Playing his back nine first, Randhawa began on a poor note, dropping a shot on the par-four 10th hole before making amends with back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th.

At that point, his trusted putter deserted the Indian during an extraordinary, unbroken run of 14 par shots.

''I struggled today. I wasn't too focused and it had gotten windier and got tougher. So I'm quite happy with one under.

''It was tough to judge shots especially on the greens. But shooting a bad round and coming out with a one under...I'll take that,'' Randhawa said.

Fellow Indian and Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jeev Milkha Singh followed up his opening round of 66 with a three-under 67 to join Randhawa at tied sixth with a two-day total of seven-under 133.

Jeev began by dropping a shot, ended his round in the same way and conceded another shot on the 10th hole. But the seasoned Indian blasted six birdies -- on third, fourth, seventh, 11th, 13th and 17th -- to overcome the setbacks and keep himself in the hunt for a decent finish in the tournament.

Among other Indians in the fray, veteran Gaurav Ghei and Kolkata pro Rahil Gangjee turned in their second successive level-par round to be tied for 53rd at 140.

UNI XC AY BD1617