Chopra glad to get the breaks

A buoyant Daniel Chopra revelled in his bogey-free second round at the weather-affected Barclays Singapore Open today as the Swede set the halfway clubhouse mark with a welcome return to form following a frustrating year.

Chopra recently endured his first winless season on the PGA Tour for two years with 2009 yielding just two top-10 finishes after winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship at the start of the 2008 season and claiming the Ginn sur Mer Classic the previous year.

But despite being forced to complete 28 holes today and endure a two-hour delay, the 35-year-old posted a six-under-par 65 on the demanding Serapong course to claim the clubhouse lead at seven under, although over half the field are yet to complete their second rounds at Sentosa Golf Club with five hours lost over the first two days.

“Of all my years going to America, this is the one I have underachieved the most. It’s the best that I have felt in my game for a long while and I have been saying that good things are just around the corner,” said Chopra.

“I felt like I was really close, it was just a matter of getting a few breaks and getting a bit of momentum going. Today, I managed to do it on every hole.

“On the last nine holes I got into trouble a few times and I was able to save par and keep the momentum going. I made a great up and down on eight and a great up and down on nine, small little things like that which happen when you play well.

“During the course of the year, I would not have got those up and downs and I would have thrown in a few bogeys along with my six birdies and I would have shot two under.”

First-round leader Ian Poulter managed just three holes of his second round but picked up two quick birdies to progress to seven under alongside qualifier Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei, who played his first seven holes in three under.

“I am very happy. I started off a little edgy with all the delays, but I came out today a little more relaxed, but still trying to get used to the speed of the greens as they are a little slower than I’m used to,” added Chopra.

“I usually don’t have any problems adjusting to the speed of the greens, but my stroke got a bit on the fast side trying to give it a bit of push so I missed a few small putts, but it got better as the day went on as I got more relaxed.”

Australia’s Andrew Dodt, fresh from progressing through the first round of the US PGA Tour Q-School in Nevada last week, and China’s Liang Wen-chong both carded three-under second rounds of 68 to progress to five under overall with Madrid Masters champion Ross McGowan in the clubhouse at four under after a second consecutive 69.