Rashid tied fifth at Asian Amateur golf

SHENZHEN - India’s Rashid Khan took a bumpy ride with six birdies and three bogeys to card a three-under 69 that carried him up from tied 13th to tied fifth at the mid-way stage of the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship at Mission Hills Golf Clubs World Cup Course here Friday.

At four-under 140, he was still five shots behind midway leader Australias Jordan Sherratt (67) and Han Chang-won (69) of South Korea who share the 36-hole lead at nine-under 135.

Today I was able to make six birdies and yesterday was only three, so it was definitely an improvement. But I made some silly mistakes, including making a bogey on the third with my gap wedge on the approach, and was still struggling with the lines, said Rashid.

Rashid added: I made a birdie on the fifth (par-three), which was important for me to get back on track. I then had birdies on the seventh and eighth, which got me to five-under and I was very happy. They bogey on the last came with only a six-iron in my hand, so I was really not happy with that.

Sherratt recorded an equal low round of the day of five-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead in the morning session, before being joined late in the day by Han, who added a 69 to his opening 66 yesterday.

Behind the leaders is New Zealander Peter Spearman-Burn, who returned 68 to be seven-under 137 and two behind him is Mhark Fernando (71) from the Philippines alone in fourth at six-under 138.

Three players share fifth, including Rashid Khan, who has twice won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Mission Hills, Korean Song Tae-hoon and another Filipino, Antonio Asistio.

Rashid starting the second round on the tenth made his intention clear with birdies on 10th and 11th. He dropped a stroke on 15th, but got it back on the next hole and turned in two-under. On the back nine, the front stretch of the course, he bogeyed the third and then had three birdies between fifth and eighth. A final bogey on ninth left a bitter taste and Khan was at four-under.

Abhishek Jha made an improvement of 10 shots over his first round 79 to make the cut as he was four-over 148 for two days. The only other Indian to make the cut was Vikram Rana (75-74), while Gagan Verma (76-74) missed the cut by one. Arshdeep Tiwana (78-75) and Moin Malak (77-78) also missed the cut.

Overnight leader Han Ren of China endured a tough day, struggling to 78.

A total of 60 players qualified for weekend play, with the cut coming at five-over 149.

The inaugural tournament offers an invitation to the 2010 Masters Tournament as a reward for the champion, with both the winner and the runner(s)-up earning places in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship being played next year at St. Andrews.