Pucay cards 67 but falls 8 shots off

MANILA, Philippines - Mars Pucay kept his fiery form and fired a second straight 67, moving from joint 15th to a share of seventh halfway through the Handa Singapore Classic at the Orchid Golf and Country Club in Singapore yesterday.

Pucay opened up with three straight birdies from No. 11 then went on to hit four more against two bogeys for a 35-32 card for a 134 although the Filipino bet stood 10 strokes off the lead as red-hot South African Peter Karmis turned in a second straight nine-under 63 for a 126.

Karmis posted a six-shot lead over Aussie Kim Felton (67), Gaganjeet Bhullar of India (65), Chan Yin-shin of Taiwan (67) and Jbe Kruger of South Africa (66).

Angelo Que also put himself in contention with a six-under par 66, spiked by a four-birdie binge from No. 15.

Counting his 69 in the first round, Que moved up from 42nd to joint 14th at 135 as he pressed his bid for a fourth victory on the Asian Tour.

Tony Lascuna also gained in another low scoring day, carding a second straight 68 to jumped from 29th to joint 24th at 136.

Chasing his first Asian Tour plum, Lascuna fired four birdies in the first nine holes but stumbled with a bogey on No. 14th before hitting another birdie on the 17th for that 68.

Artemio Murakami rallied with an eagle-spiked 31 at the frontside and finished with a 66, salvaging a spot in the last two days with a 140.