Singapore, April 24 (IANS) Gaganjeet Bhullar, an 11-time winner on the Asian Tour and a four-time winner on the IGPL, put himself in contention for his maiden International Series title as he added 3-under 68 to his first round 67 and moved up to Tied-third place.

Only two other Indians, both of whom are Bhullar’s colleagues on the IGPL Tour, made the cut with Pukhraj Gill (71-70) in T-38 and Karandeep Kochhar (71-71). The remaining eight players, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Rashid Khan, Shiv Kapur, Sachin Baisoya, SSP Chawrasia, and Shubham Jaglan, missed the cut, and Jeev Milkha Singh retired due to injury.

Bhullar moved into contention, making two birdies in the last three holes. He was bogey-free for 31 holes – 18 in the first round and 13 in the next but dropped back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and the 15th, before picking up gains on the 16th and the 18th for a 68. At 10-under total, he is three behind the leader, Korea’s Jeongwoo Ham.

Bhullar said, “I’ve not been playing so many events. But I mean, it feels good to be on the first page of the leaderboard, definitely feels good.”

“I thought I played really well last year, but the scores were not coming at the right time. So probably this week, I’ll try to do my routine, process, and try to give my 100%.”

Korea’s Ham enters the weekend of the Singapore Open as the surprise halfway leader at Sentosa Golf Club. He carded a three-under-par 68 on the formidable Serapong Course to move to 10-under for a two-shot lead over Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.

Jazz, the champion here on this course in 2019, returned a 66, while Bhullar and Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka share third place, another stroke behind. Bhullar and Ishizaka both shot 68s in the fourth event of the season on the Asian Tour, which is also part of The International Series.

Ham started the day in a share of the lead with Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and maintained yesterday’s momentum while Wu fell away, carding a 75.

The Korean has only ever played in seven Asian Tour events outside of Korea, with a best finish of joint 29th in the International Series Japan two weeks ago. He made four birdies today, including on the par-five 18th, and dropped one shot on 15.

Despite not having tasted victory on the Asian Tour, he is a proven winner on the Korean PGA Tour, where he has won four times.

–IANS

hs/bsk/