India’s Jyoti Randhawa rolled back the years with a blemish-free seven under round of 65 to take the outright lead at the Manila Masters golf tournament yesterday. The 2002 Asian Tour order of merit winner got off to a great start with three early birdies, breaking clear of four players who had a share of the first-round lead.
“I put my head down and made three great swings, three great putts and played those three holes fabulously well. After that, I knew what I needed to do and just stuck to that game plan,” the 44-year-old said.
Thai duo Sutijet Kooratanapisan and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit shared second place after matching rounds of six under on day two. Meanwhile, all eyes were on compatriot Sattaya Supupramai, who had seven straight birdies to match the course record of 63 and take an equal share of fifth place.
He could have done even better if it were not for bad weather late in his round at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club that he blamed for a bogey on the 17th. “I knew it was possible to break the course record. But it started to rain when I was approaching my finishing holes,” he said.

Swede Noren storms into Sun City lead with 67
Alex Noren fired five birdies on the back nine to catapult the Swede into a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the European Tour’s Nedbank Challenge yesterday.
British Masters champion Noren, who has three tour wins in 2016, shot to the top of the leaderboard following a 67 to move to eight under par and a two-shot lead over a chasing pack of five players. Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti, who earlier landed the first hole-in-one in the tournament’s 35-year history, looked as though he would grab a share of the overnight lead before he bogied 17 and 18 and settled for a 68.
Zanotti, who achieved his ace with a seven iron from 210 yards on the par-three fourth, was joined on six under by home favourite Louis Oosthuizen, who carded the low round of the day with six birdies in his 66.
South Africans George Coetzee and Jaco van Zyl (both 69s), and England’s Chris Wood (69), were also tied for second. The Race to Dubai looks as though it will go down to the wire at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week after money-list leader Henrik Stenson carded a disappointing 74 in his second round for an aggregate total of one under par.
The Swede could have wrapped up the title of Europe’s top golfer in 2016 with victory at Sun City and a finish outside of the top 10 for his nearest money-list rival, Danny Willett. But both face a battle for a place near the top of the leaderboard after Willett’s poor form continued with a 74 that left him on five over par.

Bogey-free round lifts Kirk
to US PGA Tour lead in Mexico
Chris Kirk fired an eight-under par 63 on Thursday to grab a one-shot lead in the US PGA Tour’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Kirk, whose two top-10 finishes in three starts so far this season include a runner-up finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship, fired eight birdies without a bogey on the El Camaleon course designed by Greg Norman. “I definitely drove the ball well today,” he said. “It’s definitely intimidating off the tee a little bit, but thankfully I hit a lot of good ones today.” Kirk, who won the most recent of his four US tour titles in 2015, had a one-stroke lead over Colombian Camilo Villegas and Americans Gary Woodland and Ben Crane.
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer was in a group on 65 that also included 2012 US Open winner Webb Simpson, Aaron Wise, Scott Piercy, Kevin Streelman and Nicholas Lindheim. Wise’s round included a hole in one on the par-three fourth, which he followed with an eagle at the par-five fifth.
Defending champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland endured a tough four-over 75. He had just one birdie and five bogeys and was already 12 shots off the pace and needing something special to make the cut.