Ashok and Sheeraj lead at Indian Oil Xtra premium Masters Golf

Guwahati, Feb 2 (UNI) Delhi's Ashok Kumar and Sheeraz Kalra tied for the lead at nine-under, 135 at the halfway stage of the Rs 20 Lakh Indian Oil XtraPremium Masters at the Digboi Golf Course.

Kumar followed up his opening round 68 with a five-under-par, 67 in the second round, Sheeraz carded a four-under-par today, giving them both a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field.

With an uneventful round, he sank in back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes to make the turn at two-under-par, 34 and dropped the only shot on the par par-five 11th where he hit his tee shot into the bushes on the left and missed a chip-putt for par.

However, Ashok then birdied the 14th and followed it up with a hat trick of birdies on the last three holes, the 16 th, 17th and 18th, to shoot a 67.

''My game is good and I am feeling confident. I am looking forward to the weekend as that is when the real pressure comes into play,'' said Ashok.

Whereas, Shiraz started with birdies on the third, seventh and ninth holes to make the turn at three-under-par, 33. He dropped his first shot of the day on the par-three tenth hole after he duffed his chip and made an up and down for bogey. He picked up another birdie on the 11 th, but three-putted the par-four 12th hole from 15-feet for his second and last bogey of the day. Back-to-back birdies, on the 14th and 15th holes saw him finish the day with a four-under-par, 68.

''I hit all the par-five's in regulation today and made birdies on all of them, so that really helped my score,'' said Shiraz. ''I am really enjoying myself and I am hitting the ball well. But I think i can improve my 31-putts today,'' added Shiraz.

Delhi's Vinod Kumar is in sole third place with a total of eight-under-par, 136, after he carded a 67 today.

Vinod started the round with a bogey, followed it up with a double bogey and was three over after three holes. However, he did not make any more errors thereafter. He birdied the seventh, ninth, 11 th, 13th, 14th, eagled the par-five 15th and finished with yet another birdie on the last to card a five-under-par, 67 in the second round and is just one stroke behind the leaders.

A further two strokes behind, Rahul Ganathapathy in fourth place at 138, while Vijay Kumar carded a four-under-par, 68 and is tied for fifth place at five-under-par, 139, alongside overnight leader Harinder Gupta who shot a 73 today, Chandigarh's A S Lehal who shot a brilliant 67 and Shamim Khan who carded a 70.

After eight straight pars this morning, Vijay birdied the ninth, to make the turn at one-under-par. However, he dropped a shot on the 10 th, birdied the 12th and made yet another bogey on the par-four 13th but got going after an eagle on the 277-yard par-four 14th. He then birdied the 15th and 17th holes to card a 68.

The cut was applied at 11-over and 50 professionals and one amateur made the cut.

SCORES (AFFTER 36-HOLES): 135_Ashok Kumar (68,67), Shiraz Kalra (67,68); 136_Vinod Kumar (69, 67); 138_Rahul Ganapathy (67, 71); 139_AS Lehal (72,67), C Muniyappa (72,67), Vijay Kumar (71,68), Shamim Khan (69,70), Harinder Gupta (66,73); 140_Sanjay Kumar (70,70); 141_Vikrant Chopra (72,69), Shankar Das (70,71); 142_Sujjan Singh (68, 74); 144_Ali Sher (71,73), M Dharma (78,66), S Madaiah (68,76), Yusuf Ali (73,71) UNI