JOIN USShiv Kapur continued his quest for a third title this season as he shot a bogey-free 68 to share the lead with Prom Meesawat of Thailand after the second round of USD 500,000 Royal Cup here on Friday.
After day two, Kapur aggregated seven-under 137 at the Phoenix's Gold Golf and Country.
As for the other Indians, Kahlin Joshi (67) moved to T4 at 5-under and at the same position was Gaganjeet Bhullar (71) while Jyoti Randhawa shot 73 and slipped to T35.
Winner of two Asian Tour titles this season, Kapur kept mistakes out of his game and carded a flawless round. Similar to round one, he needed a few holes to get his game started.
Things went on track for him after consecutive birdies on the sixth and seven. He would have been happier to get an even lower score, but said he was satisfied to have the lead at the halfway stage of the tournament.
"I was bogey-free today," said Kapur. "I kept the mistakes off the card. I felt that I had a slow start as I didn't give myself birdie chances in the first five holes. I ground out a few pars, made a birdie on the sixth and a good birdie on seven. I got going after that.
"I thought the conditions were much tougher today. The winds picked up and the greens got firm. The greens were pretty fast as well. Over at the back nine, I was just hanging on and trying to avoid the mistakes.
"Overall, if you're leading the tournament, you can't be too unhappy. Hopefully, I can handle it better tomorrow and give myself a few more chances. I also hope that the course stays tough because I like it to be tough."
The experienced Thai golfer Prom was feeling very positive about his game from the first hole and he had the result to show for it. Prom carded three birdies and an eagle during the round.
The only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on hole two. Prom put it down to bad luck as the wind picked up just as he hit the ball flush.
Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei is two shots behind the leaders in lone third after carding a 69. He scored three birdies and turned in at 33 courtesy of some accurate approach shots.
However, things did not go as well over his back nine (holes one to nine) as he made three bogeys. Although, he had an eagle on the sixth.
The entire field stays for the weekend as the Royal Cup is a no cut event. It is also the final event on the 2017 Asian Tour schedule.