Malik maintains lead at BILT Open

Bangalore : Amardip Sinh Malik maintained the lead in the BILT Open despite a one-under 71 card, not one of the best in the second round, here on Thursday .

Malik`s total score now stands at nine under 135 and he enjoys a one-stroke lead over Anirban Lahiri, who fired his second successive 68 at the KGA.The cut was declared at five over 149 on a day that witnessed as many as 19 under par scores. Sixty professionals and four amateurs made the cut. Malik (64 and 71) was a nervous starter on day two after his fabulous first round effort. He made pars on the first five holes and then hit his iron shots extremely close to sink three straight birdies from the sixth through the eighth.A couple of three-putts led to bogeys for Malik on the ninth and 10th but he found the green in two shots on the par-five 11th to collect another birdie. Malik`s poor tee shot on the 16th resulted in him dropping another stroke. Lahiri (68 and 68), one of the pre-tournament favourites, made five birdies against a lone bogey in his round of 68 today. The highlights of his round were the birdies on the first and the seventh. Manav Jaini (69 and 69) of Delhi made a move up the leaderboard thanks to a second successive score of 69. He is now placed third at six under 138. Gaganjeet Bhullar`s round of 65 was the best score on day two. His card featured eight birdies and a lone bogey. His four-under-140 total places him joint fourth along with Vijay Kumar, Digvijay Singh and Shaurya Singh. Bhullar had earlier shot 75 in round one. Ashok Kumar and Mukesh Kumar are placed tied 18th at even par 144. Local favourite C Muniyappa (75 and 76) missed the cut as he totaled seven over 151 for the first two days. PTI