Jyoti Randhawa leapfrogged to tie 17th while Shiv Kapur too managed to make the cut but the door was slammed on Jeev Milkha Singh at the Irish Open.
ADARE MANOR (Ireland): Jyoti Randhawa leapfrogged to tie 17th while Shiv Kapur too managed to make the cut but the door was slammed on Jeev Milkha Singh at the midway stage of the Irish Open on the European Tour.
Randhawa (70) played some very smart golf and putted very well in tough conditions to bring in one of the handful of sub-par cards to soar from his overnight 85th place in the leader board, while Kapur (74) rode on the wings of a final hole eagle to ensure his weekend action.
However, for Jeev, nothing went right and he was clearly struggling against the gushing wind as he stuttered to 82 in the second round.
Jeev had a 74 on the opening day and his total fell way behind the cut, which came at seven-over.
Randhawa's 70 was one of the 11 sub-par rounds in very demanding conditions. Randhawa started on the 10th and was on fire with five birdies on the stretch from 10th to 18th.
He birdied 11th, 12th and 13th and added two more on 16th and 18th to turn in five-under 31.
In the second stretch, which was the front of the course, he dropped shots on fifth and seventh and then a double bogey on the eighth hole.
However, Randhawa got his act together to hit a birdie on the ninth to close at 70. He needed just 25 putts, though he found just four of the 14 fairways.
Meanwhile, Kapur, in danger of missing the cut after his first round of 77, had an eagle on his closing hole, the ninth, that helped him squeeze in.
Starting on the 10th, he birdied 10th and 12th, but dropped shots on 11th, 17th and 18th.
In the second half, he bogeyed the first, for his third bogey in a row. A birdie on second was followed by bogeys on fourth, seventh and eighth. At that stage he was two off the cut line and needed an eagle to have a chance to play the weekend.
He did just that by getting an eagle with a hole out from way off the green on the 631-yard par-three ninth.
Jeev's round, meanwhile, was marred by four bogeys, two doubles and a triple bogey against a lone birdie.
At the top of the table, Padraig Harrington emerged the new leader, bidding to become the first Irishman to claim his National Open.
Harrington carded the day's best of four-under 68 and led the field at three-under 141. He was followed by a pack of three Joakim Backstrom (71), Andres Romero (74) and Simon Wakefield (72).
Harrington played a great round with five birdies spoilt only by a last hole bogey.
First round leader, England's Simon Dyson slipped back as he struggled to cope with the gale to shoot a 78. Dyson was tied 17th, five shots behind new leader and local favourite Harrington.
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