Jeev, Atwal in top-10 of
South African Open

The two Indian golfers on the European PGA Tour -- Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal -- both excelled in the South African Open when they not only made the cut but also made it to the top-10 at the halfway stage of the season-opening event, being played at The Country Club in Durban, South Africa.

Apart from Arjun and Jeev, another Indian figured above the cut list. Amandeep Johl, who made it to the main event after going through the rigours of a Monday Qualifiers, also made it to the weekend rounds after aggregating one-under 143. The cut was applied at level-par 144.

According to information from Durban, James Kingston, a regular on the Asian PGA Tour, opened up a two-stroke lead as he tagged a five under par 67 to his opening 66 for an 11 under par total of 133. The 35-year-old was two ahead of England’s Andrew Butterfield and Jonathan Lomas and three ahead of South Africans Martin Maritz and Tim Clark.

Atwal opened with a two-under 70 and was going along in a steady fashion on day two before catching fire on his back nine. The Kolkata pro made four birdies in his last nine holes to be in tied sixth place along with reigning US Open champion Retief Goosen at seven-under 137.

Jeev, who is playing on the European Tour for past three seasons and is sponsored by Hero Honda Motors, started with a three-under 69 on the opening day and added another 69 on day two to aggregate six-under 138 after two rounds. That gave him a tied-10th place in the prestigious tournament.

Amandeep Johl was two-under after nine holes on the opening day but could only manage a level-par 72. On Friday, the Chandigarh pro posted a one-under 71 to be tied for the 47th place at one-under 143.

Among other well-known players, twice US Open champion Ernie Els was in joint 37th place at two-under 142.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 133 _ James Kingston (SA) 66 67; 135 _ Jonathan Lomas (Eng) 68 67, Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 66 69; 136 _ Tim Clark (SA) 66 70, Martin Maritz (SA) 72 64, 137 _ Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 67, Retief Goosen (SA) 67 70, Ashley Roestoff (SA) 66 71, Alastair Forsyth (Scot) 66 71, 138 _ Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 69, Desvonde Botes (SA) 68 70, Grant Muller (SA) 72 66, Steve Webster (Eng) 68 70, Paul Lawrie (Scot) 68 70, Michael Kirk (SA) 69 69, Charl Schwartzel (Am) (SA) 71 67