Kapur, Bhullar tied 34th at Ballantine’s golf

JEJU ISLAND - Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar were the only Indians to make the cut at the end of the second round of the Ballantine’s Championship Golf, which has been reduced to a 54-stroke play tournament.

Kapur, who finished his second round Friday, shot 73 in the second round for a total of one-under 143, while Bhullar added a three-over 75 to his first round 68 to be at the same total of 143. The Indian duo was tied 34th.

Opening round leader Marcus Fraser of Australia carded a two-under-par 70 for a two-day total of nine-under-par 135 to take a single shot lead.

Jyoti Randhawa (72-74), C. Muniyappa (73-74), Himmat Rai (82-76) and Anirban Lahiri (77-85) missed the cut.

Fraser regained the lead from defending champion Thongchai Jaidee and Argentina’s Tano Goya who had earlier taken the clubhouse lead by signing for matching 136s Friday.

Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin matched his opening 68 to take equal second alongside Thongchai and Goya at the 2.2 million euros (approximately $2.9 million) showpiece that is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the Korea PGA.

The opening round fog disruption Thursday where almost six hours of play was lost led the tournament to be reduced to three rounds so as to ensure a Sunday finish.

South Korea’s Ted Oh kept himself in contention for his career breakthrough on the Asian Tour by carding a 70 to take a share of fifth place alongside three-time Major winner Ernie Els of South Africa and Australia’s Brett Rumford on 137.

Singapore’s Mardan Mamat held the distinction of being the only player of the day to sign for two eagles on the par-five fourth and 10th to take tied-eighth position with England’s Oliver Fisher on 138.

Asian Tour honorary member Y.E Yang will not be among the 68 player featuring in the final round after missing the cut which was set at one-over.