Kuala Lumpur: Shiv Kapur brought home three birdies against one bogey for a battling two-under-par 70 to move to five-under 211 and in tied 13th place at the halfway stage of the USD 7 million CIMB Classic here Friday.
The 31-year-old Indian star is eight shots behind the leader, American Keegan Bradley at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club's West course. Gaganjeet Bhullar, currently third on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit, carded a 70 for tied 33rd place while Anirban Lahiri also shot a 70 for 42nd position.
Although eight behind the leader, Kapur is only four behind the second placed Ryan Moore, which gives him hope to make a move on the third day Friday. "I played steady golf. I played just well, good golf. I could have been a little lower, but I made a few saves as well early in my round. I made a good par putt on the first and the third, so I kind of kept myself in there," said Kapur.
"I want to improve on that, but given the conditions and given everything and playing sort of late in the day when the greens are a little bit more chewed up and a little more grainy, I think that's a decent round. But obviously I'd like to do a couple better," he added.
The Indian knows finding the fairways at the challenging West course is key to a low round. He hit 10 fairways today, an improvement from his first round, but did not hit it close enough to the pins to convert the birdie chances. "If you hit fairways, you give yourself a lot of birdie opportunities. Today they put a lot of flags on the front of the greens. With the greens firming up, it's tougher and tougher to get closer to the front pin," he said.
"When you have to be in the fairway, there is a big premium on hitting fairways here. So as long as you keep it in play, you give yourself a lot of birdie chances. It is the kind of course where you can get hot and go low. It comes down to putting like any other week. So you hit the fairway on a few putts and there are low scores to be had," said Kapur.
With the heat and humidity, Kapur said it was important to conserve his energy for a weekend charge. "It's really hot, and you have to conserve your energy. I think all parts of my game are in pretty good shape. It's just a question of putting it from third gear into fifth gear, and hopefully I can do that on the weekend," he said.
Bradley turned on the heat with a sizzling six-under-par 66 to charge into a four-shot halfway lead. The 27-year-old Bradley, winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, wielded a hot putter to sink seven birdies, including five on his homeward stretch, for a two-day total of 13-under-par 131.
Overnight leader Moore shot an even par 72 for outright second, while Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, signed for a 69 to share third place with American Chris Stroud on 136. A superb 65 hauled Australian Marc Leishman back into contention at tied fifth place on 137 alongside Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who grinded out a 71.
Bradley needed only 26 putts for the second straight day as he put himself in prime spot to land the top prize of USD1.26 million this week. "Yeah, these last two rounds were really fun. Some of the best golf I've played in a long time. Obviously, I'm in a great spot here with two rounds to go," Bradley, who is ranked 15th in the world, said.
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