Randhawa remain tied 8th; Jeev climb to 28th but Kapur miss cut

Paris, June 30 (UNI) Jyoti Randhawa flirted with danger throughout the second round, bordering on the line of brilliance at one moment and erratic the next, to finally remain on tied eighth spot inspite of a one-over 72 at the Open de France ALSTOM here.

World no.57 Jeev Milkha Singh carded an identical one-over 72 to climb up 10 places to joint 28th even as Shiv Kaupr, the third Indian in the fray, missed the cut after an atrocious eight-over 79.

Fresh from an 11th spot finish at last weekend's BMW Championship in Munich, Randhawa yesterday dropped a double-bogey on the second hole in an otherwise solid front nine where he fired four successive birdies starting from the third hole compared to a sole bogey.

However, the 2006 Asian UBS Order of Merit winner spoilt his chances of a top-three finish when he went on a bogey-hunting spree on the back nine, dropping three more strokes against a lone birdie to end the day on two-under 140.

Three strokes adrift lies Jeev, who had a less eventful round with a couple of birdies, a solitary bogey and a double-bogey.

Meanwhile, Shiv Kapur did not find the Le Golf National golf course to his liking as he failed to get over his opening day's blues, dropping a stroke for each of the three stroke he gained.

As if that was not enough, he came up with not one but two double-bogeys for a two-round tally of 12-under 154 to miss the halfway cut.

Going into the penultimate round today, Randhawa would look to narrow the three-stroke lead that chart topper Simon Khan of England enjoys. Scottish Colin Montgomerie and Irsihmen Paul McGinley share the second spot with four-under 138s.

UNI