SSP Chowrasia one shot off the lead at Manila

Manila: SSP Chowrasia put himself in perfect position to take a shot at title glory for the first time since 2011, as he moved within a shot of co-leaders, Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines at the halfway stage of the US$300,000 Solaire Open on Friday.

While Que and Tabuena were tied for the lead at seven-under 135, Chowrasia, who lost his European Tour card last year, was six-under 136 after two identical rounds of 68 each. Things, however not so good for the other Indians, as only Rahil Gangjee (70-74) made the midway cut while Sujjan Singh (72-78), Himmat Rai (74-78) and Abhinav Lohan (77-76) missed the cut. Chowrasia, who finished in top-10 at the season-opening SAIL-SBI open in New Delhi, was happy with his form. "Honestly, I`m very happy because every part of my game worked. I`m glad because my putting was good. I really struggled with my putting in the last few months. I made a small change in my putting stance. Now my hand is positioned slightly in front instead of behind," said Chowrasia. After 25 putts on first day, he had 26 on the second. He had 12 greens in regulation and opened with birdies on second and third. But he missed the regulation on the fifth and had a bad `out-of-bounds` drive, which saw him pay heavily with a double bogey. He birdied seventh, bogeyed eighth and turned in even par. On the back he was steady with three birdies on 10th, 14th and 16th and did not drop any shots. "There`s no secret to my good scores. No doubt, the course is very challenging and it reminds me of the courses in Europe but the weather there is obviously colder! I like to play on windy courses because I hit low ball trajectories. Unfortunately, I had one bad drive (out of bounds) on the fifth hole for a double bogey," added the Indian ace. On his goal for the week, he added,"Hopefully, I can do well again in the next two rounds. I just want to maintain the momentum and keep my game like how it was in the last two days." Que, a three-time Asian Tour winner but not since 2010, fired the day`s lowest score with a flawless six-under-par 65 while Tabuena shot a 68 to share the lead on seven-under-par 135 total at the challenging The Country Club. Bryce Easton of South Africa and Matthew Griffin of Australia posted a 68 and 69 respectively for tied fourth to trail the leaders by two. The bubbly Que signalled his strong intentions to win the Solaire Open after being motivated by the challenge from his coach Bong Lopez, who was celebrating his birthday today. Tabuena, a silver medallist winner in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in 2010, said that the experience gained from the 2011 Philippine Open has prepared him for the final two rounds. He was in contention in his National Open three years ago before settling for tied 11th following a final round 81. The halfway cut was set at three-over-par 145 with a total of 69 players making the weekend rounds.