Defending champion Jeev Milkha Singh sank three birdies on either side of the turn for a superb four-under 68 that catapulted him into a respectable tied 15th place on Friday at the halfway stage in the Casio World Open golf tournament.

Jeev also had two bogeys. His total is now one-under 143 for 36 holes and he is seven shots behind the leader, South Korea's IJ Chang (67).

Shiv Kapur, the other Indian in the field, also made the cut despite. Kapur, who was one-under for the day after 11 holes, ended the day at 73 for a total of three-over 147 and tied 43rd place.

Jeev birdied the second and third added a third on par-five seventh before making his first mistake with a bogey on par-three eighth, where he failed to find the green off the tee.

On the back nine, he started with a birdie and added another on the 14th before making his second bogey of the day on the 16th. A closing birdie with a chip-in on par-five 18th meant he had birdied three of the four par-fives and ended with a round of 68.

Kapur was going along fine with birdies on the fifth and sixth. A third followed on the 11th. He then bogeyed the 11th, 12th, 16th and 18th in a nightmarish finish that messed up all the good work.

Chang held a one-shot lead over tour veteran Taichi Teshima, who played with Toru Taniguchi (69). Taniguchi is lying third, another shot further down.

Chang had a flawless round of 67 for a total of eight-under-par 136 for the lead. Teshima shot a 68 and joint first-round leader Taniguchi had his second straight 69 to be seven-under 137 after two days.
Taniguchi will increase his lead in the race to be the top money winner this year by finishing ahead of Shingo Katayama (72) who was lying 25th at one-over.