Hume homes in on leader
Barry Hume moved to within a stroke of second round leader Jyoti Randhawa at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters after carding a three-under-par 69 in the second round at Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
The 25-year-old from Glasgow followed up his opening round 65 at the Classic course on Thursday by firing five birdies on the more difficult Masters course to move to 10-under in the £570,000 (€840,000), which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.
Hume, 2002 Scottish amateur champion, began well with three birdies on the first four holes and was 12-under after further birdies on the 15th and 16 before a double bogey on the par-three 17th blotted his card.
It was enough for the clubhouse lead until Randhawa came in later in the day with a round of 68 on the Masters that put him 11-under for the tournament.
The Indian player had seven birdies but saw his lead trimmed to just one stroke after making his third bogey of the round on the penultimate hole.
Penrith native Gary Lockerbie was tied for third place after firing five birdies on the back nine of the Masters for a five-under 67 which put him on nine-under, level with Malaysia’s Iain Steel, whose bogey-free 65 is the best score so far this week on the Masters course.
Lockerbie and Steel are a shot ahead of Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, who carded 70 on the Masters, and first round co-leader Liang Wen-Chong of China, who had a 72 on the Classic.
Marcus Fraser, who shared the overnight lead with Liang, looked set to retain first place when he reached 11-under after back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th of the Classic but consecutive double bogeys at the 14th and 15th saw the Australian fall back to seven-under.
Scotland’s Andrew Coltart and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee both carded 69s while Gaurav Ghei of India shot a 70 as the trio moved into contention on six-under for the tournament.
Nick Dougherty, the 2005 Singapore Masters winner, shot a level-par 72 on the Classic to narrowly make the cut of two-under but Lee Westwood and last year’s Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam were not so lucky as both missed weekend play by a single stroke.
Another Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke also failed to make the cut as he finished on three-over after carding a 73 while Anton Haig was brought back down to earth after his victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic last week as the South African youngster quadruple-bogeyed the second in a dismal round of 81 on the Classic that put him 11-over for the tournament.
A total of 71 players made the cut for the final two rounds, which will take place on the Masters course.
