Jyothi Randhawa leads Chiangmai

Edited by Anand Datla

Chiangmai, Thailand, November 14: Indian golfing stars Jyothi Randhawa and Rashid Khan enjoyed a solid second round, enough to give them both space at the very top of the leaderboard. Randhawa shot a brilliant 65 to match the effort of Thanyakon Khrongpha, who laid down the mark earlier in the day.

Randhawa’s effort earned him a one shot lead at the halfway stage of the Chiangmai Golf Classic. Khan is lying in joint third on the strength of his 69 today. Randhawa is the man to beat though, at 11-under 133, with Khrongpha one shot behind him. Khan has work to do though, as he is four off the pace.

The 24-year-old Thai rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to lead by three shots over Scott Barr of Australia on 10-under-par 134 at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event. The two were among the early finishers in the second round.

Randhawa marched through the first eleven holes of his round, without any damage to reach 7-under with seven holes left to play. But four birdies in six holes shot him into the limelight with a sudden thrust.

Khan though was dealing with an up and down round, after managing to remain even par through the front nine despite two bogeys. Khan moved to one under for the day with a birdie at the 11th hole (his third of the round). Khan signed off with two straight birdies on the last two holes to squeeze into third position.

Major champion Jason Dufner of the United States moved into contention after signing for a second straight 69 to share third place with Korea’s Mo Joong-kyung (69) and overnight co-leader George Gandranata of Indonesia, who posted a 72.

Thanyakon, who won on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in 2010, hit all 14 fairways and took advantage of his sharp shooting game to charge up the leaderboard.  “I am very happy with how I played today. It exceeded my expectations. I had targeted to hit about 10 fairways but I hit 14 instead. I guess that gave me an advantage. It makes it easier for me to score as well.

“I feel very excited to be in the lead but I won’t give myself any pressure. I hope I can continue my good form. The greens are very tricky here. It’s hard to read the lines. I think I should be fine if I can continue to keep the ball on the fairways,” said the 24-year-old Thai, who marked his card with one eagle and six birdies against a lone bogey.

The lanky Thanyakon was delighted to regain some good form after struggling with his swing earlier in the year.  “I’ve had some problems with my swing and I struggled with my mental game but I managed to fix the problems now. I’m glad the efforts paid off today. I am hoping to finish in top-60 on the Order of Merit to keep my card for next year,” added Thanyakon.

Barr credited a hot putter for a solid round which kept him on track for a maiden victory on the Asian Tour.  “I found some form with the putter which is really helping. Swing wise, I’m hitting it a little better, in fact I’m hitting it really good and giving myself chances. I made some small adjustments in my game earlier in the week and it seems to be working well,” said the Australian.

It will be a big week for Barr this week, who is currently placed 49th on the Order of Merit. He needs to finish inside the top-60 at the end of the season to retains his Tour card for the new season. “I’ve been through a bad run so it is nice to see my name on the leaderboard. I’ve played well in the past and I knew my game would come back. It was just a case of putting it together. Obviously we are only halfway through this tournament. I had other things in my mind like keeping my Asian Tour card,” said Barr.