The 29-year-old Johl, playing in his first ever European PGA Tour event, fired four birdies with superb putting to make up for two bogeys after handling heavy crosswinds that marred the cards of many top Pros at Westin Resort Ta Shee course.

Overnight joint 24th with Jeev Milkha Singh, Johl stood just one stroke adrift of American Tiger Woods who grappled with elements to return a par 72 after yesterday's four-under 68 to slip to joint seventh. Jeev Milkha Singh, 50th on the European tour merit list, followed his 71 with a poor 74, but managed to make the cut after lying joint 37th.

Jyoti Randhawa could do nothing better than a three-over 75 to finish at 147 andmissed out on the cut by one stroke. Arjun Atwal returned a four-over 76 to go out with a two-day total of 149.

Jeev faced problems with the wind and also hurt his wrist trying to hit a ball buried under the lip of a bunker in the 17th hole. However, he recovered after receiving treatment. The cut applied at 146 for the top 65 players and ties looked quite cruel to Randhawa, who had defended his title at the Hero Honda Masters in Delhi earlier this month. ``I needed one more birdie,'' said a disappointed Randhawa, who felt he was out of focus on the outward journey.

South African Ernie Els, winner of the event in 1997, returned with the day's best card of 67 to jump into joint lead with overnight leader Campbell. The New Zealander followed his first round of six-under 66 with 71 to tally 137.

The two held a single stroke lead over Marten Olander (Sweden) and Nick O'Hearn, who shot 70 and 71 respectively, to have a total of six-under 138. Woods, Philip Prince of Wales and three others were jointseventh.

MUKESH MISSES WORLD RECORD: Mukesh Kumar of Mhow continued his brilliant run into the third day, shooting a six-under 66 to open an eight-stroke lead in the Rs 5 lakh Tiger Sports Open at Faridabad. Mukesh closely missed a World record of seven birdies in a row, but managed a PGA Indian Tour aggregate record of 20-under 196. Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh was second at 12-under 204 while Feroz Ali was third at nine-under 207.