Jeju Island (South Korea): Anirban Lahiri finished with a brace of birdies on the final two holes to card one-under 71 and improve his position by five places at the halfway mark of the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges here Friday.
Lahiri (69-71) at four-under 140 is now tied-15, up from overnight tied-20th. He handled the tough and windy day, when winds went up to 35 miles an hour, with five birdies against four bogeys. Lahiri, who shot 69 in the first round, carded 71 in the second to get to four-under 140.
The sole leader was Luke List (68-67), who was bogey free. He is searching for his maiden win on PGA Tour. List was tied-12 overnight. One behind List were Lucas Glover (69-67) and Scott Brown (66-70). Lahiri got off to an awful start with bogeys on first two holes, but then settled down to some good play. It ended with two fine birdies on the last two holes for a round of 71. After bogeys on first and second Lahiri birdied sixth and ninth.
On the back nine, he dropped shots on 10th and 13th, but had a birdie on 12th. He finished with birdies on 17th and 18th and Friday saw him birdie three of four Par-5s.
SSP strengthens Asian challenge
Port Louis: Reigning Indian Open champion and four-time European Tour winner SSP Chawrasia has added his name to a strong Asian challenge for the 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at The Heritage Golf Club this November. Chawrasia joins Asian Tour star, Scott Hend of Australia, currently ranked third on the Order of Merit, in a field that also includes 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, multiple European Tour winners Brandon Stone and George Coetzee, and rising French professional Romain Langasque.
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