Just ahead of the Hero 54th Indian Open, Jeev Milkha Singh had likened Shubhankar Sharma’s approach to golf with that of a silent assassin. Good day on the course or bad, on the surface it all appears the same for the 21-year-old. Tempests, if any, rage within the calm exterior.
That ice in his veins saw Sharma overcome an opening nine holes that went five over par on Thursday afternoon with an astonishing comeback — capped by a course record eight-under par on day two of the $1.75 million event co-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours at the DLF Golf and Country Club here.
Sharma’s charge on Friday carried him to seven under par 137, four strokes behind runaway leader Emiliano Grillo of Argentina in sole second place after his overnight joint 55th. He had been five-over after the first nine holes (10th to 18th) on Thursday, but in the next 27, he has gone 12-under.
Even as numbers went berserk on score cards and experienced golfers tore their hair out in frustration on the testing greens and taunting roughs, Sharma turned in some precision hitting and laser-like putting to steadily climb his way through the field. He dropped one shot on the par-4 seventh hole, the last blemish on his card as he hit seven birdies over the next 11 holes.
That run was capped with an audacious second shot over water on the par-5 18th hole to create a birdie opportunity duly converted after he had chipped in close from the edge of the green. In all, he had nine birdies against the one dropped shot on the day.
“My highlights are all from the back nine. My second shot on the 10th, which landed about a foot from the hole, started it all. That was a very tough pin. The birdie putt on the 12th hole was huge as well.
“I knew the course record is seven-under-par. To hold the record on my home course would be mean a lot to me. That was why I decided to go for the green,” Sharma would day of his round.
Khalin Joshi’s error-free four-under-68 ensured he was the second Indian in the top-10 on day two, in tied ninth at four-under-140 up from Thursday’s tied 35th.
The cut is likely to be applied at three-over-147, which would eliminate defending champion S.S.P Chawrasia among a host of big Indian names.
Pablo Larrazabal (67-71), who got up this morning and tweeted that the Tour officials need not wake him today, as “he was up” in time, shot one-under 71 to be six-under and T3 alongside Englishman Andrew Johnston (72-66) at six-under 138.
Ajeetesh Sandhu, the best Indian on day one, carded a 76 in round two to slip to tied 31st at even-par-144. Anirban Lahiri (73), the 2015 champion, was a further shot back in tied 35th.
Teenaged amateur Kshitij Naveed Kaul (two-over-146) as well as fellow-teen Karandeep Kochhar and Udayan Mane (on three-over-147) will also make the weekend rounds, while three-time Indian Open champion Jyoti Randhawa, at an even-par total through 15 holes when play was suspended, is likely to be the eighth Indian to make the cut.
