Published on December 10, 2005

Kapur and Randhawa to the fore. Indians Shiv Kapur and Jyoti Randhawa took the spotlight in the US$600,000 (Bt25-million) Volvo Masters Asia by taking the first two spots in the second round yesterday. On a hot, sunny and windy afternoon at the Thai Country Club, overnight leader Kapur had a roller-coaster round, sinking eight birdies against three bogeys for a five-under 67 and an aggregate 11-under 133 to keep his lead for the second consecutive day.

The beginning was, however, ominous. He dropped a shot, but then recovered grandly with birdies on holes 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14 and 16. If the 15th was an aberration, where he missed an easy putt, the 18th was a struggle in the bunker and an eventual bogey.

“Anytime you start off with a bogey you are on the back foot and I came back pretty well with birdies at two, three and four. That put me on track,” said the 23-year-old Kapur, who preferred taking an early lead.

“I would prefer to be one or two ahead rather than one or two behind. A lot of guys like to be behind because it takes pressure off you and you are not the man everyone is chasing. But if you are in the lead it gives you a little bit more margin of error and that is a good thing,” added the Indian, whose superb short game got him out of trouble on many occasions yesterday.

Defending champion Randhawa had a truly remarkable performance. The wiry Indian let his adrenaline flow after bogeying on the first hole. He fired nine birdies on his way to an eight-under 64 and 10-under 134 overall.

The 33-year-old said the disastrous start made him determined to work even harder. His third shot landed on the green in the four-par first hole but he missed an easy putt to pick up a bogey.

“I said to myself, ‘What are you doing, you have to put in a good number today.’ That got me going and I knew what I had to do – I steadied from there,” said Randhawa, who almost matched his best round of nine-under 63, which he produced last year in the 2004 Masters of Asia in Malaysia, where he went on to win in a play-off.

Randhawa, who was just two-under in the first round, has his eyes firmly fixed on retaining the title.

“Saturday and Sunday, if I put good numbers on the board I should be right there, if not taking the trophy. That is the way I look at it but I don’t want to jump the gun. There are a lot of good guys in the field and a lot who can come up from the back.”

The two Indians will tee off in the same group today, which is definitely a first.

“I grew up watching him play in India and I have great respect for him,” said Kapur, the 2002 Asian Games gold medallist. “I think I can draw a few lessons from him. However, I would rather focus on my game and don’t pay too much attention on whom I play.”

Three Australians seized the third and fourth places. Marcus Both, with an eagle in the fourth hole, fired a six-under 66 for a nine-under 135 overall to finish third while Andrew Buckle and Adam Fraser shared fourth place with seven-under 137s.

Chapchai Nirat, Chawalit Palaphol and Prom Meesawat were the top three local challengers. Chapchai, a 23-year-old from Phitsanulok, had four birdies for joint eighth with a five-under 139.

“I drove well and hit 14 greens. It’s a pity I didn’t play well on the first day otherwise I would have been in a better position,” said Chapchai, who was joined by Prom and Chawalit.

“The ninth and 18th holes are tough but I had a long good putt on the 10th, which helped me. My game plan will be the same on the last two days. The greens here are really tough,” said the 22-year-old Chawalit, who wants to make it to the top 10 in the tournament.

Two-time Asian Tour No-1 Thongchai Jaidee was nowhere near his level, carding a one-under 71 for a three-under 141 overall to take the 16th position.

“I’m satisfied with my putts and swing but unfortunately missed three greens in regulation on the back nine. I struggled on the back nine more than the front nine,” said Thongchai, who is still upbeat about his chances of finishing the year at No-1 for the third successive time.

Thaworn Wiratchant’s campaign to take the 2005 Asian Order of Merit crown from Thongchai hit a stone as he ended day two with a one-over 73 for the 29th place. Thaworn needs to bounce back on the last two days to keep his hopes of winning alive.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam,

Somporn Suphop

The Nation

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