Indian Open: Terry leads by 3 strokes

NEW DELHI: The victories may have dried up in recent years, the results coming into the $1.66m Hero Indian Open may be nothing much to write home about, but Australian Terry Pilkadaris feels he has got one of the best jobs in the world. Travelling and playing.
On Friday morning, the 42-year-old played one of the best rounds of his life, shooting a sizzling eight-under 64 to take a three-shot cushion going into the weekend rounds of the 52nd edition of the event at the Delhi Golf Club.This was the Australian's second cut in six starts.
"Even if had $10m in the bank, I wouldn't want to stop playing and travelling," said Pilkadaris, who took his two-day total to a stunning 13-under 131. It could well have been 14-under but he found the left woods with his driver tee shot on the closing hole for the lone blemish on the day.
Long after Pilkadaris' heroics came the shocker, late in the evening. Padraig Harrington, the three-time Major winner and the biggest name in the draw, shot two-over 74 on the second day to miss the cut by a solitary stroke. Also missing the cut that came at even-par 144 were Joost Luiten (world No. 75), former champions Thaworn Wiratchant, David Gleeson (retired), Feroz Ali and C Muniyappa. In all, 21 Indians, including amateur Arjun Prasad, will be in action over the weekend.
Defending champion Anirban Lahiri endured another tough day for his oneunder 71 to stay tied 14th, along with overnight leader Daniel Im (74), eight shots behind the leader. "I had a disappointing back-nine and have left myself a lot of work on the weekend," said Lahiri.
But SSP Chawrasia, chasing an elusive National Open title, more than made up for Lahiri's poor show. The diminutive Kolkatan shot a second straight fiveunder 67 to join Spaniard Nacho Elvira (68), who like the leader made his second cut of the season, at 10-under 134.
Having worked on his putting after a series of poor results, -missing three straight cuts -it was his putter that saved the day for Chawrasia. "Whenever I got into a tricky situation, my putting saw me through," said Chawrasia. He holed two long putts for birdies on the 11th and 14th holes and saved par by holing from the edge of the green on the par-3, 17th hole. The lone dropped shot came on the fourth hole, where he left the chip from the edge of the green a trifle short and missed the 15-footer for par.
LEADING SCORES (after 36 holes): 131: Terry Pilkadaris (Aus, 67, 64); 134: Nacho Elvira (Esp), SSP Chawrasia (Ind, 67, 67); 136: Ben Evans (US, 70, 66), David Lipsky (US, 69, 67); 137: Jorge Campillo (Esp, 66, 71), Rashid Khan (Ind, 69, 68), Alejandro Canizares (Esp, 68, 69).SELECT INDIAN SCORES:139: Shiv Kapur (72, 67), Anirban Lahiri (68, 71), Sanjay Kumar (67, 72, T-14); 140: Honey Baisoya (68, 72, T-21); 141: Mukesh Kumar (73, 68), Arjun Prasad (A, 71, 70), Arjun Atwal (70, 71), Shamim Khan (71, 70), Rahil Gangjee (69, 72, T-30).MISSED CUT: Padraig Harrington (Ire), Joost Luiten (Ned), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thai), Feroz Ali (Ind), C Muniyappa (Ind).