Jakarta, Indonesia, 13-07-2018

Khalin Joshi and Udayan Mane in tied fourth at halfway stage of Indonesia Open

Indians Khalin Joshi and Udayan Mane followed up their first rounds of five-under-67 with second round scores of four-under-68 to be placed tied fourth at the halfway stage of the Bank BRI Indonesia Open.

Joshi and Mane's total score of nine-under-135 meant they trailed the joint leaders Natipong Srithong of Thailand and South African Justin Harding by two shots.

While Joshi had five birdies and a bogey to show on his card, Mane produced seven birdies and three bogeys.

Joshi said, "I’m happy with my position but I could have played better today. I missed a lot of putts. All my birdies came within five feet. The only long putt that I made for birdie was at five, about 20 feet. I’ve been hitting good shots today, off the tee and on the fairway. I wish I could have holed more putts. I was just not rolling the ball as much as I want to.

"I missed an easy up-and-down on 17, missing a three-footer for par. Then at 18, from the centre of the fairway, I didn’t birdie it. But, I have plenty of positives to take to the weekend. Hopefully, I can put on a good show.

"I’ve been in this position (in contention going into the weekend). I still wished I made more putts. There is still a lot of golf to be played on the weekend."

Mane said, "I’m starting to get back that winning feeling that I’ve experienced while playing on the PGTI (Professional Golf Tour of India). I’m heading in the right direction for sure. I didn’t hit the ball too well today, but the ones I did I hit it close to the hole.

"I had three bogeys – one from a missed up-and-down, one from a three-putt and one from a missed fairway. But I came back strong with seven birdies. This shows that my game is going in the right direction.

"I holed a long putt for birdie on 17, about 25 feet. The other birdies that I’ve made were shorter. Some were one foot and some were four to five feet. I drove well, which allowed me to set up easy birdie chances. At four for instance, I had forty yards to the flag while my playing partners had a hundred yards. At six, I blasted a three-iron to eight feet, but the putt lipped out, but I was pretty pleased on how I played that hole.

"I need to play the par-fives and par-threes better. I also need to be more aware of the wind. At eight, it was dead calm, but the wind was gusting from the right as I hit the ball and I missed it into the left bunker. If I’m more aware of the situation, I should be able to better my score.

"I’m not trying to think about winning or earning my card. I’m just glad that my game is improving and I’m going to do everything I can to keep going."

Gaganjeet Bhullar's second round of 67 took him to tied eighth place at eight-under-136. Jyoti Randhawa was another two shots behind in tied 13th.

Bhullar said, "I played well today. To be honest, the only happy part about my round is the fact that I was bogey-free. I didn’t make any mistake. I could have gone low today. I missed a lot of birdie opportunities, but there are still 36 holes to go. There is plenty of golf to be played.

"I was giving myself a lot of approach opportunities from the fairway and from those fairways, I was hitting it pretty close. I hit it within 10 feet on my first four holes, but I didn’t make those putts. I only birdied on the fifth hole. It’s OK. That’s golf.

"The greens are tricky and quick. It’s not an excuse, with my experience I should have putter better today. I’ll be spending some time on the putting green and work on my speed.

"I’m just going to try what I’ve been doing the last two days. The goal is to hit fairways, and from the fairways to the greens. And of course, to hole the putts."

Amont the other Indians, Shiv Kapur was tied 47th at one-under-143, Himmat Rai and Honey Baisoya were both tied 56th at even-par-144 and Chiragh Kumar was tied 66th at one-over-145.

At the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, Arjun Atwal was tied 65th at three-under-139.

Elsewhere at the European Tour's Scottish Open, both Shubhankar Sharma (two-under-138) and SSP Chawrasia (even-par-140) missed the cut.