Poor putting nearly breaks Mardan

THREE three-putts which led to three bogeys told the sad tale of Mardan Mamat's second round at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters yesterday.

The defending champion was poised to surge up the leaderboard, as he played at Laguna's Classic Course, which is deemed easier.

But poor putting and a loss of concentration on the back nine almost resulted in Singapore's No 1 golfer missing the cut.

He shot a one-over-par 73 for a two-day three-under 141 total. He is joint-40th.

The cut was set at two under, as the record 204-man field at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club was trimmed to 71.

Said Mardan, who had a bright opening round at the tougher Masters Course: 'I'm tired. I don't want to talk about my round.

'It was a tough day at the office.'

Birdies on the fourth and 11th and 12th were undone by bogeys on the eighth, 13th, 14th and 16th.

That included three three-putts on the back nine.

He said: 'The greens were surprisingly faster today.'

No prizes for guessing where he went after his lunch break - the practice greens.

While the Singaporean struggled, India's Jyoti Randhawa took the lead at the half-way mark.

Sharp putting from the 2000 Singapore Open winner enabled him to card a 68 yesterday for a two-day total of 133.

Said Randhawa, who is expecting the birth of his first child within a month: 'It was a really windy and tough scoring day.

'The greens dried up and became hard, so it was tough to get it close. And, with the wind, it made it even harder.'

Despite the rough conditions, he fired birdies on the first, third, seventh and eighth Masters holes, before dropping a shot on the ninth.

Three more birdies, against two bogeys, on the final nine holes were enough for a one-stroke edge over Scotland's Barry Hume at the US$1.1 million (S$1.7 million) event.

Said Hume, who had a double bogey at the 17th: 'Overall, my game has been good, so I am not too worried.

'The goal was to make the cut, so now I can aim higher.'

Tied a further stroke behind on 135 is England's Gary Lockerbie and Malaysia's Iain Steel, gunning for his first Asian Tour win.

Said Steel, a Sabah-born player who lives in the US: 'I got into a good rhythm, hit a lot of short irons into the holes, and kept out of trouble.'

However, the same could not be said for most in the 204-man field.

A host of big names missed the cut, including world No 18 David Howell of England - the highest-ranked golfer in the tournament.

He was joined on the wayside by Wales' Ian Woosnam, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, South Africa's Anton Haig and England's Lee Westwood.

Despite their exit, they obliged those among the 4,500 crowd who approached them for autographs.

Said Howell, a two-time Ryder Cup winner: 'No excuses - just rubbish golf. I've lost the plot at the moment.

'We're all good players, but we're just out of form.'

Added Haig, a crowd favourite who won last week's Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket: 'I had an absolute shocker.

'Last week took it out of me big time. I've been celebrating a bit so that hasn't helped my game at all.'

Said Clarke: 'Two days I've played very poorly.

'Why is that? If I knew, I wouldn't have played poorly, would I?'

alfoo@sph.com.sg