Crans Montana: Anirban Lahiri led a group of three Indians into the weekend rounds at the USD 3 million Omega European Masters even as six others missed the cut.
Leader on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Lahiri, making up for his opening day score of 70, shot a fine three-under 67 to get to three-under 137 for 36 holes and moved to tied 25th place.
Other Indians making the cut included Jyoti Randhawa (72-65) and Rahil Gangjee (72-67) in tied 37th and tied 74th places.
However, Shiv Kapur (74-67), Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-71), Digvijay Singh (71-73), Jeev Milkha Singh (72-73) and SSP Chowrasia (75-72) missed the cut.
Richie Ramsay set an imposing target of 12 under par at the midway stage but the 2012 champion has Jamie Donaldson breathing down his neck after the in-form Welshman carded a superb round of 64. Donaldson, seeking successive victories after his triumph in the Czech Republic two weeks ago, is one shot behind Ramsay.
Lahiri, speaking of his second round, said, "It's a much improved performance. I made a few more six footers for par which I didn't manage to do at all in first round. I'm playing well but it's a little patchy.
"In the first round I played really well in the first 10 holes but lost my focus in the middle. It's back to playing golf now with lots of tournaments coming up. So it's just getting back into the rhythm," said Lahiri.
Lahiri's only blemish came at the par-five nine where he three-putted for bogey. The 27-year-old would however make up for that with birdies on holes three, five, six and 15 to sign for a two-day total of three-under-par 137 at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
"I'm happy with how I'm playing and the scores will get better as I keep playing. It's nice to be playing in the weekend. But I'm playing well enough to do well and not just play during the weekend. I'm definitely feeling confident about how I'm hitting the ball and so we'll see how it goes," said Lahiri.
Randhawa had a superb second round with five birdies and no bogeys as he hauled himself up well after a first round 72.
Gangjee, who had two birdies and two doubles in first round, had four birdies and one bogey in the second.
With a solid finish at the Omega European Masters in mind, Lahiri is now hoping the unpredictable weather patterns will be in his favour as he tees up during the weekend.
"We've been really lucky this year. Even though it rained, the temperatures are still above 10 degrees. I remember playing in similar conditions in the rain where the temperatures were about four to five degrees and it becomes very difficult when it's that cold. Hopefully, it holds up through the weekend," said Lahiri.
The Omega European Masters is the only tournament on European soil to be jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour since 2009 and marks the start of the second half of the Asian Tour season.
Keeping the Asian Tour challenge up was David Lipsky of the United States, posting a second round six-under-par 64 to take a share of fifth place.
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