Gurgaon: Anirban Lahiri stamped his authority with a score of four-under 68 to grab the lead on Day Two of the Rs-95-lakh DLF Masters golf tournament on Thursday.
The Bangalore golfer, who had shot a 68 in round one as well, is now two shots clear of the rest of the field at eight-under 136 at the DLF Golf & Country Club.
Jyoti Randhawa, the overnight leader, fired a steady 71 to end the day in second position at six-under 138.
The cut was declared at six-over 150. Fifty-one professionals made the cut.
Lahiri (68-68), the 2009 Rolex Rankings champion, climbed from overnight second to the top of the leader-board courtesy an eagle and four birdies besides two bogeys.
Lahiri, a 10th tee starter on the second day, dropped a bogey on the 13th before producing some immaculate approach shots to set up birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th.
A bogey on the 18th meant he made the turn at one-under.
Lahiri was on the ascent on his second nine as he converted a 15-footer for birdie on the third and then made pars all the way till the eighth before sinking a crucial eagle on the closing ninth.
"The conditions continued to be tough as the wind was swirling around early in the morning. I missed a number of putts today and was therefore disappointed with my effort till I stepped on to the ninth green. The 30-feet eagle putt on the ninth helped me end the day in a very positive frame of mind," said Lahiri.
"My priority was to hit the fairways as it is pretty difficult to recover from the rough on this course. The birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th came as a result of landing the ball on the fairway. I was able to get it within six feet of the pin on all these holes," added Lahiri, whose 68 also happened to be the best score of the day.
Jyoti Randhawa (67-71) carded a 71, aided by three birdies and two bogeys, to be placed in second position at the half-way stage.
Deepinder Singh Kullar (70-69), of the DLF Golf & Country Club, shot a 69 in the second round that helped him climb from overnight tied fourth to third place at five-under 139.
Kullar made six birdies and three bogeys.
Vijay Kumar, Himmat Singh Rai and Sanjay Kumar are tied fourth at three-under 141 while SSP Chowrasia, who matched Lahiri's 68 in round two, ended the day in seventh place.
Defending champion Ashok Kumar (72-74) totaled two-over 146 after round two to be tied 18th.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (76-73) is joint 42nd at five-over 149.
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