Gaganjeet Bhullar, Khalin Joshi in contention at Philippines Open golf

Tarlac, Philippines: A late slump could not do much damage as Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bullar carded a three-under 69 to be just two shots shy of leader Lindsay Renolds (68) after the second round of the Philippine Open presented by ICTSI here on Saturday.

With the tournament shortened to 54 holes, the third round will be the final round.

Bhullar, who shot 67, is eight-under 136.

Meanwhile Khalin Joshi (67) moved up to tied seventh at seven-under 137 with a flawless second round. Himmat Rai (71-70) was tied-32nd and was among the three Indians, who made the cut.

Shubhankar Sharma (69-76) had a rough time on his first nine, the back stretch of the course with two doubles on 15th and 17th, and S Chikkrangappa (71-74) both missed the cut.

Bhullar had a great start with three birdies in the first six holes and turned in three-under 33 with four birdies and one bogey.

A birdie on the 10th brought him closer to the leader, but bogeys on 11th and 15th sit him back. A final birdie on 18th kept him within striking distance of winning a sixth Asian Tour title.

"I'm in the title mix. I played really well from holes one to nine. It got a big dodgy on a few par fours on the back. My two bogeys were a result of a miss-management with the clubbing. Other than that it is a good solid round."

Renolds stayed on track to win a first Asian Tour title after shooting a second round four-under 68 to maintain his lead at the Philippine Open presented by ICTSI on Saturday.