In-form Rashid shoots 66 to get into Top-10 as 5 Indians make cut

Rashid Khan carded a five-under 66 to add to his 70 from the first round, to be placed Tied-seventh at the SMBC Singapore Open, here on Friday.

Rashid, who has five Top-10 finishes in last eight starts on Asian Tour since September 2019, six shots behind the leader and defending champion Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand who once again moved into contention with six-under-par 65 to lead the field at the halfway stage.

Four other Indians made the cut. Rahil Gangjee (70-71) was in Tied-32nd place, while SSP Chawrasia (72-71) finished birdie-birdie to squeeze inside the cut line with Shiv Kapur (72-71) and Khalin Joshi (70-73) in Tied-52nd place.

Among the eight Indians to miss out the cut, Aman Raj (70-74), Jyoti Randhawa (74-70) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (69-75) missed by one shot.

Udayan Mane (72-74), Viraj Madappa (76-73), S Chikkarangappa (74-76), Chiragh Kumar (68-83) and Jeev Milkha Singh (79-76) were others heading back early. Chiragh had a monstrous 13 on Par-3 eighth.

Rashid, the only Indian in Top-200 of the world, had six birdies against one solitary bogey.

"This is by far one of my best rounds on this golf course. I've played here many times but haven't been able to score well. Maybe it was because of my iron shots here in the past but now, I'm very confident of hitting it onto the greens. I also enjoy holing those long birdie putts," said Rashid.

Gangjee had two bogeys in last five holes but made the cut comfortably at one-under for two rounds. Chawrasia was staring at a missed cut as he was three-over after 16 holes, but a birdie-birdie finish saw him get in to get a chance to improve over the weekend.