Southampton: India's Anirban Lahiri battled windy conditions and shot one-under 70 to rise to tied 12th position and stay in the race at the Bermuda Championship after his second round.
Lahiri, who shot 3-under 68 on the first day, was 4-under 138 and four shots behind co-leaders, Ryan Armour (64-70) and Wyndham Clark (66-68). Lahiri, who was tied 26 overnight, can get closer to the leaders over the next two days.
Things, however, did not pan out well for Arjun Atwal, who had as many as seven birdies, but also dropped six bogeys in his 70 and exited at the halfway stage at 3-over as the cut fell at 1-over.
Lahiri, who has had one Top-10 this season, on Friday said he was happy to remain in the hunt after a round in tough conditions.
Alongside co-leader Clark, the Indian played steady with two birdies on fifth and 18th while dropping a shot on 15th.
First-round leader Peter Malnati (63-74) managed just two birdies in round two after making nine in round one and slipped to tied 6th, while former Open winner, Henrik Stenson, withdrew with a foot injury.
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Lahiri said, "I'm quite happy with the way I played. It was tough, really tough. It's been a while since we played in conditions like this, and it takes me back to The Open at St Andrews in 2015.
"Today the gusts were up but they kept the greens slow enough and it was borderline playable. It was a grind."
The forecast is for similar conditions on the third day, but Lahiri is ready to keep grinding.
"One of those days when you have to accept whatever you get. I generally played better today. I'll be looking to hit a few more fairways over the weekend and probably make a few putts.
"I felt like I haven't made many putts outside of five, six feet and missed a few inside that range as well. It's one of those things which has not fallen into place but things are looking good and in the right direction.
"It will be a matter of having a few go in and getting on a roll to gain some momentum. Tomorrow is going to be a windy day again, so it'll be interesting."
While the 2015 Asian Tour No. 1 Lahiri stayed in Top-12, yet another former Asian No. 1 Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat kept the Asian Tour flag flying high as he compiled a bogey-free 5-under 66 and rose to tied sixth at 5-under 137.
The 31-year-old Kiradech, playing some of his best golf, was the only player to stay bogey free in high winds that went up to 56 kph.
He made birdies on hole numbers 2, 5, 12, 13 and 14. He missed seven greens in regulation but scrambled to save par on each occasion to keep himself close to the leaders.
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