GAURAV GHEI. NEW DELHI, July 15: Following up on his four under par 67 in the first round, India's Gaurav Ghei, shot a three under 68 in the second at the Irvine Bogside to qualify for the British Open golf, beginning on Thursday.Ghei, who has a special liking for the Scottish golf courses having scalped Colin Montgomerie in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at the St Andrews last year, finished second behind John Kernohan of the US.Though Kernohan also is a member of the Asian PGA Omega Tour, Ghei was the best among the 29 Asians who were vying for spots at the Royal Troon.According to information reaching here, Ghei with an aggregate of seven-under 135, is the first Indian in recent memory to have made it to the main tournament. His second place also fetched Ghei 400 pounds.Apart from Ghei, another Asian to qualify for the world's most famous event was Mardan Mamat of Singapore. Playing at Glasgow Gailes, he came through a play-off after carding four-under 138 for the two rounds. There were six players tied at 138 with only three spots available. Mamat birdied the first play-off hole to ensure a place.Though Ghei and Mamat are the only Asian players to make the main tournament, some other players from the Asian Tour also qualified. Prominent among them being Kernohan, who shot the lowest qualifying score of 133 and was the winner at Bogside, one place ahead of Ghei.Ghei and two other Indians, Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal, were part of a 29-strong group of golfers from the Asian PGA's Omega Tour bidding for spots in the British Open, a campaign sponsored by Johnnie Walker.The 28-year-old Ghei, recently nominated as the Mahindra Golfer of the Year and who won the 1995 Gadgil Western Masters on the Omega Tour, was in fine form. He had birdies at the second, third, 11th, 15th and 18th holes but also had bogeys on the fourth and ninth.``It was pretty tough out there cold and windy,'' said Ghei. ``What really made my round was the second shot at the 11th where I hit a three iron to three foot and made birdie. After my birdie at the 15th, I knew that if I made one more, I had a great chance of qualifying. I played safe on the difficult 17th and went for it on the last.``I do not care if I am paired with Montgomerie - the British Open is not one-to-one but against the course,'' said Ghei. ``But I would like to play with him on Saturday or Sunday as it will mean I have made the cut.''India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who was also a member of the last year's Alfred Dunhill Cup missed out on qualifying. Though Jeev fired a two-under 69 in the second round, his three-over 74 in the first proved his undoing.``I hit the ball well today and I am encouraged by my score,'' said Jeev. ``I will keep trying to qualify for the British Open, a great ambition of mine. What really hurts me this time was my bad start in the first round.''Arjun Atwal had hoped to build on his opening round par 71 at Irvine Bogside, but slumped to a six-over par 77 in the second.One of the big casualties at the qualifiers was Larry Mize, the 1987 US Masters champion, who had a par 142 at Western Gailes but still failed to squeeze in.
