Shrugging off the disappointment of missing a PGA Tour card, Indian-origin Swede golfer Daniel Chopra was sharing the lead but the Indians in fray were struggling when thunderstorm stopped play at the Thailand Golf Championships in Chonburi, Thailand.
Flawless through his round of 67 on the first day, at the end of which he was placed tied third, Chopra was four-under through 14 holes with five birdies and one bogey to have a share of the lead at nine-under.
Sharing the lead with him at nine-under was Masanori Kobayishi of Japan, who was five-under through nine holes in second round after shooting four-under 68 on first.
Overnight leader, Charl Schwartzel (65) was yet to start his second round as Hunter Mahan with a streak of six birdies in seven holes on back nine, his first nine on second day, also moved to seven-under for 30 holes.
On the opening day, Jyoti Randhawa was the best Indian as he carded a three-under 69 on Thursday. But Randhawa was two-over through eight holes in second round and had dropped to just one-under after 26 holes.
Randhawa, one of the 11 Indians in the field, was four behind the leader, 2011 Masters winner, Charl Schawartzel of South Africa. Randhawa had six birdies and three bogeys.
Chopra was in red-hot form with the putter as he needed just 23 putts during his round of 67 that was bogey free and had five birdies.
"I putted beautifully, even the putts that didn't go in. I had a whole bunch that hit the edge of the hole. So it was beautiful. I love coming back and putting on these greens in Asia. I feel comfortable on them and they are easy for me to read," said Chopra.
Anirban Lahiri and Ajeetesh Sandhu, were a shot behind Randhawa while Gaganjeet Bhullar, a four-time winner on Asian Tour, is a another shot adrift at 71.
Chiragh Kumar and Shiv Kapur shot one-over 73 each, but Himmat Rai and Digvijay Singh went two-over 74. SSP Chowrasia struggled to a 76 as did Shankar Das and veteran Gaurav Ghai carded 79.
Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images
