Jeev soars to tied 7th spot, Randhawa tumble to tied 58th

Milan, May 6 (UNI) A first hole eagle helped Jeev Milkha Singh shoot right back into contention with a sparkling seven-under 65, propelling him to tied seventh spot while compatriot Jyoti Randhawa just managed to make the cut in the second round of the Telecom Italia Open.

On a day where virtually nine hours were lost to a waterlogged course, Jeev sizzled with his strong putting, coming up with an eagle on the very first hole, followed by the only dropped stroke on the second, and providing the icing on the cake by reeling off six more birdies.

Tied 39th overnight, Jeev, the first Indian to debut and make the cut at Masters, shared a crowded seventh spot with five others, all aggregating ten-under 134s after two rounds at the European Tour event.

Even Randhawa enjoyed a perfect start to the day, firing in a birdie on the first hole, but bogeyed the very next one. After that he raised his game by a few notches, helping himself to five more birdies against a solitary bogey to total three-under 69 for a four-under 140.

But his efforts left him languishing at the bottom of the chart at tied 58th spot with 12 others. He was placed tied 70th after the first round.

On Friday, the second round was suspended after torrential rain lashed the clubhouse.

Atop the leaderboard, South African Andrew Mclardy enjoyed a one-stroke lead second-placed over Briton Nick Dougherty and a four-stroke advantage over Jeev.

UNI