Lahiri tied fifth; Jeev, Bhullar joint 10th at Hong Kong Open

Leading Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded three-under 67 to be tied fifth, while veteran Jeev Milkha Singh and Gaganjeet Bhullar shared the 10th position after scoring even-par 70 and 66 respectively after the second round of the $2 million UBS Hong Kong Open here on Friday.

Asian Tour leader Lahiri, who also got a 67 on the first day to be tied 12th, got birdies on the second, 14th and 15th holes in a flawless round of 67. The world No.39 has a two-day total of six-under 134 -- three strokes behind leader Justin Rose of england, who added a 66 to his first round score of 65.

Bengaluru's Lahiri, 28, believes he can move into contention at the Hong Kong Golf Club. "I'm feeling good. I think I'm playing some of my best golf in terms of how I'm hitting it. It has not been good in terms of scoring over the two days as it could easily have been in double digits," Lahiri said in an Asian Tour release.

"But you know, if I can keep hitting it like this on the weekend and give myself some chances, I'll be pretty happy."

One stroke behind Lahiri were Jeev and Bhullar, alongwith five others. Jeev, who fired 65 on Thursday, managed an even-par 70. His round was marred by a double-bogey on the par-four 18th hole. The 37-year-old collected birdies on the fifth, 13th, 16th against a bogey on the 15th.

Bhullar, who got a 69 on Thursday, moved up 27 places with a round of 66 that witnessed birdies on the first, fifth, sixth, ninth, 10th, 12th and 15th against bogeys on the fourth, eighth and ninth.

Among other Indians in the fray, Rahill Gangjee and S.S.P. Chawrasia dropped 11 places to be tied 17th on 136 as total after scoring matching 70s on Friday.

Former Asian Tour champion Jyoti Randhawa was lucky to make the halfway cut that fell at 140. Randhawa scored another 70 in the second round of the tournament sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

Rashid Khan (71) missed the cut by a stroke. Also missing the cut were Shiv Kapur (72) and Arjun Atwal (71).