Bhullar slips to 25th, Lahiri, Chowrasia make cut

KOBE - Gaganjeet Bhullar was unable to build on the excellent first round of four-under 67 and dropped from joint lead to tied 25th with a second round 76 at the Asia Pacific Panasonic Open here Saturday.

Two of the other three Indian survived by the skin of their teeth to make the weekend rounds. Anirban Lahiri (73) needed two birdies in his last four holes, on the sixth and eighth, after starting the day from tenth, while SSP Chowrasia (76) had nervous wait after bogeying his finishing hole the ninth. Both made the cut on the line at five-over.

C. Muniyappa missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 78.

Bhullar, who won the season-opening Asian Tour International in Bangkok, was disappointed to fell off the pace.

“Conditions were quite tough. I didn’t hit the ball as good as yesterday. I missed a lot of fairways and the iron play wasn’t up to the mark. I missed so many greens in regulation which caused my high scoring today. Most of the holes which we played were always into a head wind or a straight left to right wind. It affected us and I couldn’t keep the ball under the wind,” he said.

“This year, I’ve been starting well but have not been able to keep pace. It’s just a lesson for me. Next time if I have a better start, I’ll try to chase the score and play more consistent golf. I think it’s just experience. I’ve made a few mental and technical errors. I need to go on the range to work on my hip rotation.”

Japanese teenage superstar Ryo Ishikawa shot a hole-in-one en route to a second round one-under-par 70 to lie one shot behind leader Ryuchi Oda at the Asia Pacific Panasonic Open on Saturday.

The 19-year-old produced the magical shot with a seven iron at the par three 187-yard sixth, his 15th hole of the day, at the Rokko Kokusai Golf Club’s East course to give himself a chance of winning approximately 1.7 million dollars event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.

Oda, who missed his last two cuts and bidding for his second victory in Japan, bogeyed the last hole for a 70 to lead on four-under-par 138, with the final round to play on Sunday.

Bad weather Thursday forced organisers to reduce the Panasonic Open to a 54-hole affair.