Mukesh, the two-time defending champion, finished with a card of one-under par 69 to take his total to 136 after 36 holes.

The seasoned pros now lead the pack of 45 professionals who made the cut applied at nine over par 149.

Following the leaders by a stroke was Gulfam Ali, better known in golfing circles as Pappan. The pro, who generally tends to fade after a good first round, finished with a two under par round to take his total to 137. Pappan, incidentally, holds the BPGC course record of 63 alongwith Delhi pro Gaurav Ghei and Sweden's Daniel Chopra.

Another from the famous golf family of Alis, Rafiq Ali, stormed into reckoning with a day's best score of three-under par 67. The Calcutta pro, who went one over yesterday, set the pace on the483-yard par-five first. A driver, followed by a three iron, put Rafiq 10 feet from the pin which he holed for an eagle.

A birdie on the fourth and he was going great guns. But all that good work took a beating when he dropped shots on the sixth, seventh and eighth to go even after front nine.

The proceedings brightened for Rafiq with consecutive birdies on the par-four 12th and 13th. He missed an eagle on the final hole when he chipped from the edge of the greens only to see the ball lip out. He, nevertheless, managed a birdie to end as the day's best.

Mukesh was steadier than his three-under par card yesterday, though his putting was still not upto his liking. Among his misses today was a six feet putt for a birdie on the par five 481 yard 16th. In fact, he three-putted to drop a shot there.

Quite unlike Mukesh, Indian Open winner Feroz had a roller-coaster round. Going for the back nine with a two-under score, the Calcutta pro dropped a shot on four occasions but also fired four birdies when neededthe most. Especially a 15-feet on the 16th and a 11-feet putt on the 18th for birdies.

Vishal Singh, who is being sponsored by Hotel Samode Palace, Ranjit Singh (both 68) and Mumbai's Prakash Kubde (69) also recorded sub-par scores.

The latter, at one point, went four under par for the day's score after the 14th. But the local favourite dropped a shot on the 15th and dropped two on the 220 yard par 3 17th for a total of 142.

A two-day total of 140 kept the formidable Vijay Kumar in sight of the leaders. The Lucknow pro, struggling with his putting after pulling a neck muscle, registered a one over par 71 round today.

Uttam Singh Mundy (one over par 71), Amritinder Singh (71), Ali Sher (71) and Shiv Prakash (74) were among the well-known faces to disappoint.

Leading Scores (after 36 holes)

136: Feroz Ali (68+68), Mukesh Kumar (67+68); 137: Pappan (69+68); 138: Rafiq Ali (71+67), Vishal Singh (70+68); 140: Vijay Kumar (69+71); 141: Mohd Islam (70+71), Jagdish Angre(68+73), Uttam Singh Mundy (70+71), Ranjit Singh (73+68), Sanjay Kumar (71+70), Ali Sher (70+71), Yusuf Ali (70+71).

Amateurs

158: Amit Nigam (78+80); 160: Rohit Goyal (81+79).