Mukesh Kumar, who has come into this event after winning last week and is currently leading the Order of Merit, lies one shot off the lead, tied with Shiv Prakash, Arjun Atwal, Davendra Patel and Amritinder Singh. It was an exceptionally good round for Mukesh, who had a disastrous seventh hole, where he hit the lateral water hazard on the left of the fairway. Four shots later he was still in the hazard and the nightmare ended when he stroked his ninth shot safely into the bottom of the cup.

Arjun Atwal, who started off with a bogey on the first was quite happy with his round. ``I hit the ball really solid and after the first hole, where I dropped a shot, I did not make any more bogeys. I hit 15 greens in regulation, which is satisfactory, but could have putted better,'' Arjun said reflecting on his round.

Amritinder also had a problem with his putting. Missed putts on the 6th, 7th and 8th and three putts on the 10th and 15th were signs that things could have been better for the defending champion.

Also at one-under was local amateur golfer Sandy Lehal, who has been playing good golf this season. Finishing second in the Samarvir Sahi Chandigarh Open after leading the event for three days, Lehal has the right attitude and the game to succeed.

Tied at ninth place with scores of level par are Feroz Ali, Amandeep Johl, Asgar Ali and Yusuf Ali. Johl, who started with a great drive, followed with a second shot that left him with a eight footer for birdie. ``The way I started I thought that I was on my way to carding a big score. I hit the ball well, but putting on these greens is quite tricky, which makes scoring difficult,'' he said.

Gaurav Ghei, Arjun Singh, Digvijay Singh, Rohtas Singh and Manohar Dige are one shot behind, at one over par, 73. Local golfer Harmeet Kahlon, who sat out last week to practice for this tournament had a disappointing two over par, 74. It was also a disappointing day for Vivek Bhandari, who started off with two birdies, on the par four first and the par five second, and was two under at the turn. However, a six over on the back nine took his score to four over for the day.

Among the amateurs, Girish Virk and Harjinder Kang are tied for second place and are currently six shots behind the leader, Sandy.

Irina leads
NEW DELHI: Irina Brar, the 16-year-old from Chandigarh, took the lead in the 32nd Siel Ladies Northern India Open Amateur Golf Championships, today. She had a one-over 73 to go with her 73 in the first round for an aggregate of 146. Yesterday's leader Vandana Agarwal shot an 80 to to slip to second spot, two strokes behind the leader at 148.