Hume one stroke off the lead

SCOTLAND’S Barry Hume was pleased to find himself within a stroke of second-round leader Jyoti Randhawa of India at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters yesterday after carding a three-under-par 69 at Laguna National Golf and Country Club.

The 25-year-old from Glasgow followed up his opening round 65 at the Classic course by firing five birdies on the more difficult Masters course to move to a 10-under 134 in the £570,000 (€840,000) tournament, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Things could have gone even better for the 2002 Scottish amateur champion, who began well with three birdies at the first four holes and was 12-under after further birdies on the 15th and 16th. A double bogey on the par-three 17th blotted his card but Hume was still delighted with his effort of the first two days. “It is always disappointing to double bogey the 17th but my golf overall has been good so I am not too worried about that,” said the Scot, who has played on the Asian Tour for the past two years.

Randhawa, winner of the Singapore Open in 2000, had even more reason to be pleased after following his opening 65 on the Classic course with a four-under 68 on the Masters. The 24-year-old from New Delhi had seven birdies but saw his lead trimmed to just one stroke after making his third bogey of the round on the penultimate hole to finish the day on 11-under.

England’s Gary Lockerbie was tied for third after firing five birdies on the back nine of the Masters for a 67 which put him on nine-under, level with Iain Steel of Malaysia, 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 shot 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.

Englishman Nick Dougherty, the 2005 Singapore Masters winner, shot a level-par 72 on the Classic to narrowly make the cut of two-under but countryman Lee Westwood and last year’s Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam, of Wales, were not so lucky as both missed weekend play by one stroke.

South African Anton Haig quadruple-bogeyed the second in a dismal round of 81 on the Classic that put him 11-over for the tournament.