Jeev Milkha Singh, who putted like a dream in the opening round, suffered an off day with his putter today to slip to tied-21st position after round two of the 120-million yen Acom International.
Jeev, who fired an impressive seven-under 64 yesterday now tallies five-under 137 for the tournament.
According to information from the 7,046 yard, par-71, Ishioka Golf Club in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, overnight leader Masahiro Kuramoto continued to dominate with a second round 69, propelling his tournament aggregate to 14-under 128.
The 48-year old Kuramoto, yesterday became the first player in the history of the Japanese Tour to break the 60 barrier.
Shinichi Yokota, fresh from a tied-4th finish at the ANA Open in Hokkaido last week, was placed second at 11-under 131 courtesy a round of seven-under 64. The trio of Yasaku Miyazoto, Katsunari Takahashi and Steven Conran were tied for the third position at nine-under 133.
Kuramoto, riding on the confidence of his previous day's effort, birdied his opening hole, the par-4 first. A bogey on the very next hole did little to affect his confidence as the veteran golfer went on to essay two more birdies on the fifth and ninth interspersed by a bogey on the seventh. His back nine was dotted with a sea of pars with a lone birdie on the 16th resulting in his returning with a card of two-under 69.
Hero Honda sponsored Jeev, a tenth tee starter, began with a bogey. He was further set back by dropped shots on the 13th and one on the closing hole of his front-nine, the 18th. Three-over after making the turn, the 31-year-old Chandigarh golfer had slipped 20 spots from his overnight second place.
Then began the repair work. Percentage golf yielded a series of pared holes before the only Indian in the field, retuned his first birdie of the day on the par-3 eighth and closed his round with a par.
"I played extremely well today but as is the case on some days, the putts just didn't drop," said Jeev after returning 34 putts as compared to 26 on his opening round.
"I was hitting the ball really well too, thanks to my Callaway Fusion Driver [true enough, Jeev found 14 greens in regulation].
"There is no cause for worry. It was just one of those off days, I am playing very well and look forward to another low scoring round tomorrow," he concluded.
LEADING SCORES (after 36 holes): 128_ Masahiro Kuramoto(59,69); 131_Shinichi Yokota(67,64); 133_Yusaku Miyazato(69,64), Katsunari Takahashi(66,67), Steven Conran(68,65); 134_Brendan Jones(70,64), Hirofumi Miyase(66,68), Taichi Teshima(67,67), Mitsuhira Tateyama(67,67), Toru Suzuki(66,68), Koki Idoki(66,68).
