Vivek joins Ashok atop the leader board

Bangalore, Feb 23 (UNI) Making up for the leeway after a shaky start, Vivek Bhandari joined Ashok Kumar atop the leader board with a steady three-under 67 in the second round of the Rs 60 lakh Solaris Global Green Golf Open, played at the Bangalore Golf Club today.

Fifty-one professionals made the cut, which was applied at five-over-par 145. Notables who missed the bus included Vijay Kumar, Rajil Ganjee, Uttam Singh Mundy, Narman Dawar and Gurbaaz Mann.

Local amateur Abhishek Jha led the amateur field with a total of 142.

Vivek came on par with Ashok at six-under 134 at the end of the second round, with the latter returning with a modest level par 70 after a sizzling six-under-par 64 yesterday.

Teeing off from the tenth hole, Vivek bogeyed the par-four 13th hole, but bounced back with birdies in the 16th and 18th to make the turn at two-under 33. Birdies on the tenth and eighth holes on the return journey saw him finish the day with three-under.

''I putted well and was really comfortable hitting off the tee.

Now my aim is to play consistently,'' Vivek said.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar maintained his place at the top despite a level par score that included a mixed bag of six birdies and six bogies. Beginning the day with a bogey on the very first hole, he went through an up and down journey to return with a dissapointing level par score. ''I missed a lot of small putts and four three-putts put me on the backfoot today. But the course is playing well and I am hitting well. Let's see what happens tomorrow,'' he said.

SSP Chowrasia also made a bid for the winner's purse of Rs 9,72,000, carding a four-under 66 to move up to third spot, a stroke behind the leading duo. Local lad Chinnaswamy Muniappa was placed fourth at 136 after today's level par score.

Scores (after 36 holes): 134-Vivek Bhandari (67, 67), Ashok Kumar (64,70); 135-SSP Chowrasia (69, 66); 136-C Muniyappa (68,68); 137-Himmat Singh Rai (70,67), Kunal Bhasin (67,70), Yusuf Ali (68,69), Anura Rohana (70,67), Digvijay Singh (67,70), Rahul Ganapathy (67,70; 138-Ranjit Singh (68,70), Pappan (69,69), Shankar Das (68,70), B G Lalithkumara (70,68), Sanjay Kumar (74,64), Amardip Singh Malik (72,66); 139-Randhir Singh Ghotra (71,68, Vinod Kumar (73,66); 140-Arjun Singh (72,70), GAganjeet Bhullar (68,72), RAfick Ali (68,72), Abhishek Ahlawat (70,70).

UNI