Jeev Milkha Singh shoots 73 in R2

Report by Anand Datla

June 12, 2015: Jeev Milkha Singh paid the price for one poor hole at the Lyoness Open, slipping down nearly twenty spots on the leaderboard in the Austrian town of Atzenbrugg. The Indian was rock solid through his first nine holes, but after turning to the first hole in 35 shots, Singh made an ugly triple bogey to slip to two over for the round. Eventually though, he managed to recover a shot to sign on a one over 73 to join a dozen other men at two under 142 through 36 holes.

Gregory Bourdy shot five birdies on the back nine, signing off with a hat-trick at the 18th hole to gain a massive four shot lead over Gary Stal and Chris Wood. Richard Bland (69) and Matthew Nixon (66) shot error free rounds to sneak inside the top ten at the halfway mark.

With the Diamond Country Club punishing every small error on Friday, Singh did well to complete his first nine – from the ninth through eighteenth – with eight pars and a solitary birdie.

But soon as he made the turn, Singh appeared to lose concentration, allowing the course to get the better of him at the par-5 first hole. The man from Chandigarh settled for a triple bogey eight at the hole to slip into over par for the round.

A birdie at the fourth hole was canceled out to a bogey at the very next hole and Singh was still at two over for the round with only four left to play. Another birdie came at the 8th hole, but it took 38 shots for the veteran golfer to complete his duties for the round.

Bourdy was down to six under when he made bogey at the very first hole. But after sandwiching a birdie at the sixth with pars on either side, the Frenchman came alive on the return stretch.

He shot two birdies in three holes from the tenth hole before those three straight from the 16th to sign off in remarkable style to not only protect his lead, but add a generous cushion to it.

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