Bhullar rises to 11th, Lahiri up to 15th in Jakarta

JAKARTA - Two of India’s most promising young golfers made their presence felt with superb cards in the second round of the weather-interrupted Indonesia President Invitational here Friday.

Gaganjeet Bhullar shot a four-under 68 and continued his good run despite missing a couple of chip-ins and an eagle chance in the second round while Anirban Lahiri made a big jump up from tied 47th to 15th with an excellent five-under 67.

Bhullar with a total of seven-under 137 moved up from tied 15th to 11th at the midway stage of the tournament, even though adverse weather meant 15 golfers were yet to finish the second round.

Four of the nine Indian golfers in the field were sure to make the cut, which is likely to fall at one-under, and one more was on the cutline. Amandeep Johl was tied 25th, up from 30th at four-under 140 following a second round 70. Rahil Gangjee seeking to win back his Tour card shot a 73 and made the cut at one-under.

Himmat Rai, who was one-under for the second round after 15 holes was at one-under and just on the cut line. He has three more holes to play.

Manav Jaini went four-over 76 and was at two-over 146, the same as Gaurav Ghei, who had rounds of 74 and 72 and both were sure to miss the weekend rounds. Digvijay Singh (72-78) and C Muniyappa (79-75) were also sure to miss the cut.

Bhullar said: “I started off pretty slow and made one birdie on the front nine and three on the back nine. I was struggling with my yardages today in the first half and was adjusting with my full and three quarter shots. I hit it pretty well on the back nine. My shots were close to the pin but I missed an eagle on the 18th because it was too dark to see the line. On the 18th tee we were rushing and I had a good second shot and if I had more time to think of it, I could have holed it. My ball stopped short about six or seven feet.”

Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant brilliantly took control of the tournament completing a second straight six-under-par 66 in near darkness. Thaworn, the 2005 Indonesia Open champion and former Asian Tour number one overcame a one-hour weather suspension at the Damai Indah Golf - Bumi Serpong Damai course with a six-birdie round to lead by one stroke on 12-under-par 132 from Australian Adam Blyth, who also carded a 66.

South Korea’s Lee Sung, who was born deaf, showed a welcome return to form to move to third place in the $400,000 event following a 67 while compatriot Ted Oh was a further shot back on 135 after a 67 as well.