India, Singapore & Philippines tied at World Cup qualifier

India's Shiv Kapur and Gaurav Ghei took advantage of the par fives to reignite their World Cup Qualifier campaign with a second round of one-under-par 70 in the foursomes format on Thursday.

The Indian duo were the only team who broke par on a tough scoring day at Seri Selangor Golf Club as they joined Singapore's Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing and the Philippines pair of Juvic Pagunsan and Gerald Rosales atop the leaderboard on four-under-par 138.

Singapore overcame an early double bogey to shoot a 73 which included three birdies and three other bogeys while the Filipinos scrambled to a 74. Overnight leaders Hong Kong, represented by James Stewart and David Freeman dropped to tied fourth with Finland on 141 after a 78.

The top-two teams after four rounds will qualify for the World Golf Championships-World Cup in Barbados in December.

Kapur, currently sixth on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, and Ghei kept India's hopes alive with a workman-like display and capitalised on the three par fives with two birdies and an eagle.

"We've got our confidence back as we were both unhappy about the first round," said Ghei, who is chasing a third World Cup appearance. "We kept it going and hung in there with some sensible golf."

It wasn't the best of starts for the Indians when they double bogeyed the second hole after Ghei drove into the trees but they easily converted birdies on the par fives on the fifth and sixth holes. Dropped shots on seven and nine and another birdie on 11 kept them level for the round before Kapur produced a moment of magic.

In the greenside bunker at the par five 13th, the 24-year-old splashed their team's third shot out which eventually found the bottom of the cup for an unlikely eagle. The Indians dropped a shot at the last after Ghei missed the fairway. Ghei said: "When we were walking up the 13th green, I casually told Shiv to just hole the bunker shot and he goes on to do it. It was amazing."

Kapur paid tribute to Ghei for holding the ship together after their rough start.
"Gaurav kept telling me to keep fighting after our miserable start. It's turned out well as the other teams struggled in this format."

Like India, Mardan and Lam had a disastrous start, four-putting the third hole for a double bogey five before Mardan restored confidence by knocking a nine iron to 10 feet for Lam to convert a birdie on the seventh. Mardan hit another glorious eight iron to three feet for birdie on eight but a bogey on the ninth with a three putt saw them turn in one-over.

The Singaporeans dropped two more bogeys on 14 and 16 against a birdie on 17, thanks to a 15-foot conversion by Lam, to sign for a 73. Lam said: "It wasn't the start that we wanted and we struggled early on. I'm actually surprised we're still tied for the lead but it wasn't easy out there and the scores show it clearly.

"The greens were treacherous and we four putted the third from the edge of the green and had another three putt. But Mardan kept us going and we stayed patient. We knew the others would make mistakes too."

Mardan, who has played in two World Cups with Lam, said tomorrow's fourball better ball format would be crucial for them to stay in the hunt for one of the two tickets to Barbados. "We must make a big move tomorrow and open up a gap. Otherwise, it could be a stressful last day again."

Pagunsan and Rosales birdied all three par fives but suffered four bogeys and one double bogey. They were relieved to still be in contention. "It was hard. The pins were really tough," said Rosales.

The Filipinos dropped three bogeys from the second to fourth holes before bouncing back with birdies at the par five fifth and sixth after finding the greens in two. "We knew we had to take advantage of the par fives which are the easier holes here and we were happy to do so," said Pagunsan.

Overnight pacesetters Hong Kong endured a nightmarish outing as they dropped out of the lead. If putts were dropping in so easily on Wednesday, it was a struggle for Stewart and Freeman in the alternate shot format.

"We missed every single putt except for making two birdies which we couldn't have missed as they were very close," said Stewart. "On the positive side, we're not out of it as we're only three shots back."

The third round will revert back to the fourball better ball format before Saturday's final round which will use the foursomes play.

Second round scores (foursomes)
138: India (Shiv Kapur/Gaurav Ghei) 68-70, Singapore (Mardan Mamat/Lam Chih Bing) 65-73, Philippines (Gerald Rosales/Juvic Pagunsan) 64-74
141: Finland (Mikko Maneros/Juha Pekka Peltomaki) 69-72, Hong Kong (James Stewart/David Freeman) 63-78
143: Italy (Emanuele Canonica/Francesco Molinari) 68-75, Malaysia (Danny Chia/Iain Steel) 65-78
144: Switzerland (Martin Rominger/Nicolas Sulzes) 70-74
145: Chinese Taipei (Lu Wei-lan/Lu Wei-chih) 70-75
146: Holland (Ruben Wechgelaer/John Bleys) 73-73
147: Pakistan (Muhammed Munir/Imdad Hussain) 69-78
148: Ghana (Emos Korblah/Victo Brave Mensah) 69-79
150: Myanmar (Zaw Moe/Soe Kyaw Naing) 72-78
160: Mauritius (Billy Narraina/Vishnoo Seeneevassen) 75-85

September 14, 2006

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