Cuello, Randhawa light up Hero Honda Masters

Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa of India shot a stunning round of eight-under 64 to come back from the dead, but was still overshadowed by Rodrigo Cuello of Philippines, who set ablaze the Arnold Palmer-designed DLF Golf & Country Club with a course record nine-under 63 on the second day of the $-200,000 Hero Honda Masters on Friday.

Also shooting a bogey-free eight-under 64 card was South African Hendrik Buhrmann. Coincidentally, all three players played a level-par round on Thursday.

At the halfway stage, Cuello led the tournament at nine-under, followed by Randhawa, Buhrmann, Arjun Atwal and overnight leader Scott Kammonn of the USA at eight-under 136. One stroke behind at tied sixth place were Davidoff Tour Order of Merit No 2 Simon Dyson of England, Sammy Daniels of South Africa, Clay Devers and Andrew Pitts (both USA).

The cut was applied at three-over 147 and 67 pros and one amateur (Rahil Gangjee) made it to the weekend rounds.

Cuello, the 40-year-old resident of Visayas Island won the 1997 Omega PGA Championship on the Asian PGA Davidoff Tour, but has been struggling with his form this season. However, he showed no such discomfort as he made nine birdies in a bravura round and only realised that he did not make any on the four par-5s when asked by a mediaperson.

"That's true! In fact, I was so engrossed and focussed on my round that I did not realise it till now. I just wanted to hit the fairways and then find the greens. Honestly, I did not want any birdies. But my iron play helped me hit some balls close to the pin and I putted much better today," said Cuello after the round.

Cuello started with a 10-footer birdie putt that set the tone for the rest of the day. Eight birdies followed, out of which only two resulted from putts in the 10-12 feet range. Rest all were from within three to four feet as he hammered his approach shots with radar-like accuracy.

Randhawa, aiming to become the first player on the Asian PGA Tour to claim a title three years in a row, was determined to do much better than his level-par round on Thursday. He did so in style with a bogey-free round where he missed two eagle putts by inches and was unfortunate to see his third shot from 95 yards spin back 15 feet after almost hitting the flag.

Starting from the tenth tee, he holed a eight-footer birdie putt which gave him a lot of confidence for the round.

"I struggled with my putter yesterday. The greens are so fast that I was tending to deaccelerate my putts and was not reaching the cups. I made sure that I chase away the fear of overshooting the hole and rest all was easy," said the 28-year-old who was seen at the practice putting green at 8:30 pm last night.

"I would have loved to call it a flawless round but the fact remains that I still missed two five-footer birdie putts (on the fifth and seventh holes). But I will take a 64 any day. It has brought me back into contention and I hope the next two days are as good as today," added Randhawa who sank a 25-footer left-to-right birdie putt on the third hole.

Buhrmann had a slow start from the 10th tee and made his first birdie on the 14th hole. But he was on fire on the back nine as he made three birdies and an eagle.

"I putted extremely well on the back nine, including a 25-footer downhill for an eagle on the sixth hole. In fact, I completed the round in 26 putts which helped me get the score," said Buhrmann who is yet to win a title on the Asian PGA Tour.

Arjun Atwal added another 68 for his eight-under aggregate. "I was hitting the ball great today and found all 18 greens in regulation. But my chipping was weak and you need to be very strong in that area to score on this course," said Atwal who made five birdies and one bogey.

Atwal started from the 10th tee and was two-under at the turn with birdies on the 15th and 18th. On the back nine, he birdied the first two holes before making a three-putt bogey on the fifth.

"More than the bogey, I was disappointed with the pars on the next two holes as I had good birdie opportunities there," said Atwal who finished with a birdie on the ninth.

Overnight leader Scott Kammonn of the US could not sustain the pace and fell to second place after a two-under 70 round that included three birdies and one bogey.

"The difference between today and yesterday was that I made a lot of good putts today which did not drop in. But I am happy to be just one stroke off the leader," said Kammonn after the round.

Order of Merit leader Yeh Wei-tze of Taiwan shot a six-under 66 to be six-under 138 for the tournament and is in tied 10th place along with India's Gaurav Ghei who shot his second successive 69.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 135 _ Rodrigo Cuello (72,63); 136 _ Jyoti Randhawa (72,64), Hendrik Buhrmann (72,64), Arjun Atwal (68,68), Scott Kammonn (66,70); 137 _ Sammy Daniels (70,67), Simon Dyson (70,67), Andrew Pitts (69,68), Clay Devers (69,68); 138 _ Yeh Wei-tze (72,66), Gaurav Ghei (69,69); 139 _ Scott Taylor (74,65), Danilo Santos (72,67), Amandeep Johl (70,69), Chris Williams (70,69), Lam Chih Bing (73,66), Uttam Singh Mundy (69,70); 140 _ Atthaphon Prathummanee (73,67), Mukesh Kumar (73,67), Harmeet Kahlon (71,69), Aaron Meeks (71,69), Digvijay Singh (70,70); 141 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (71,70), Rahil Gangjee (Am) (71,70), James Kingston (73,68), Nico van Rensburg (72,69), Imdad Hussain (71,70), Charli Wi (71,70), Mike Cunning (70,71).

OTHER INDIAN SCORES: 142 _ Ali Sher (66,74), Pappan (72,70), 143 _ SSP Chowrasia (76,67), Shamim Khan (74,69), Feroz Ali (71,72), Shiv Prakash (71,72); 144 _ Rafiq Ali (72,72), Rohtas Singh (72,72), Indrajit Bhalotia (72,72), Mohammed Yamin (72,72); 145 _ Vijay Kumar (74,71), Jaiveer Virk (75,70), Basad Ali (74,71)