Three lead BPGC Open at six-under 134

On a day when overnight leader Sanjay Kumar failed to capitalise on his first round score, Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, two of the most dangerous competitors on the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, caught up with him on top of the leaderboard and set up exciting possibilities over the weekend in the Rs 600,000 BPGC Open, being played at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.

At the par-70 course on Friday, Vijay Kumar shot a two-under 68 and Mukesh one-under 69 to tie for the lead with Sanjay, who finished with a level-par round. One stroke behind the leaders at fourth place was Shiv Prakash at five-under 135. Four players -- brothers Feroz and Rafiq Ali, Indrajit Bhalotia and Asgar Ali were tied for the fifth place at three-under 137.

The midway cut was applied at 11-over 151 and 53 pros made it to the money-making weekend rounds. They will be joined by all 11 amateurs.

Vijay Kumar almost looked depressed despite the two-under 68 card.

"It was a bad two-under today. I made two bogeys from the centre of the fairway with my second shots and also had one three-putt," explained Vijay after the round.

The Lucknow golfer had begun well and was three-under after four holes with birdies on the first, third and fourth holes. However, he underclubbed his second shots on the fifth from 120 yards and on the ninth from 160 yards. He later failed to make his chip-putt and ended with bogeys.

Two birdies on the back nine were negated by a three-putt bogey on the 14th. Also, he missed a six-footer birdie chance on the 11th, and was unlucky to see his second shot on the par-5 18th hit the greenside tree and drop into the bunker. From there he chipped to four feet, but missed the birdie putt.

"I should have played six-under today," said the Order of Merit winner of last three years.

Mukesh, Player of the Year last season, looked like continuing from where he left yesterday. He began with a birdie on the first hole, and then added two more on the 12th and 14th. But his spell of bogey-free holes finally ended on the 13th when he pushed his tee shot to the left and failed to make an up-and-down. But tragedy actually struck on the par-5 16th hole. Looking for a birdie, he hit his second shot from 200 yards. But the ball failed to cut and sailed straight towards the out-of-bounds line and he made a double bogey. A birdie on the 18th handed him his one-under 69 card.

"The way I played the front nine, I thought I would play another bogey-free round. I have been messing up one round in several tournaments this season and hopefully, today's was that round," said Mukesh who is currently leading the race for Mahindra Player of the Year award and is a strong contender for the Rs 850,000 cheque.

Sanjay was satisfied with his day's card of level-par 70. After beginning with a birdie on the easy par-5 opening hole, the Lucknow golfer was two-over on the 14th tee with a bogeys on the sixth (three-putt), seventh and 11th, where he was punished by a bad drive. However, the winner of Servo Masters in Digboi this season, pulled back with birdies on the 14th and 16th.

"I am lucky to have finished level-par. At least I now have a chance to into the third day at even keel with Vijay and Mukesh. Considering that I was having a less than average day at the course, this is a good score," added the 27-year-old.

PATWARDHAN LEADS AMATEURS: Mumbai's Gagan Verma shot the day's best card among amateurs with a one-over 71, but it was Jaideep Patwardhan of Pune who led the section at six-over 146. Verma was tied for second place along with overnight leader Aditya Kanitkar at 148.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 134 _ Vijay Kumar (66,68), Mukesh Kumar (65,69), Sanjay Kumar (64,70); 135 _ Shiv Prakash (67,68); 137 _ Rafiq Ali (70,67), Feroz Ali (70,67), Indrajit Bhalotia (68,69), Asgar Ali (68,69); 138 _ Mohammed Islam (72,66), Rohtas Singh (70,68), Devendra Patel (69,69); 139 _ Yusuf Ali (71,68), Vishal Singh (69,70), Basad Ali (69,70); 140 _ Prakash Kubde (70,70), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (69,71); Amateurs: 146 _ Jaideep Patwardhan (72,74); 148 _ Gagan Verma (77,71), Aditya Kanitkar (71,77)