Lucas Bjerregaard holds the halfway lead at a European Tour event for the first time in over three years after carding a ten under par 62 at the second round of the Hero Open. India’s Shubhankar Sharma added second consecutive 67 to his first round score and tied for seventh place with a ten under total.
Sharma carded similar five-under 65 with six birdies a lone bogey adding to his first round. The only other Indian who made the cut in the field Gaganjeet Bhullar also carded similar five-under-65 to make the cut with one-under total and lying at T60.
The Dane Bjerregaard, whose last victory was on Scottish soil at the 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, made the turn at Fairmont St Andrews in four under par, and produced a blistering back nine which saw him card six consecutive birdies from the third to the eighth as he signed for a 15 under par total and a two-stroke lead.
“My putter might be the most valuable thing in Scotland right now. I’ve never putted like that and I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone putt like that. That was pretty special, I’m a happy man right now”, said Bjerregaard.
“I hit my irons well, but didn’t hit it well off the tee. I hit about three or four fairways. I guess I got lucky and missed in the correct spots and managed to hit some good iron shots out of there and putted well. It was definitely the putter. I think I had about 20 putts today – that helps.
Scotsman Calum Hill, who led after 18 holes, leads the home charge after carding a four under par 68 to move to 13 under. He’s one stroke ahead of Santiago Tarrio of Spain and South Africa’s Justin Walters.
Walters carded an eight under par round of 64, with Tarrio signing for a seven under 65. Tarrio is currently the leader on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings with two wins on the developmental circuit in 2021.
Nine groups are still to complete their rounds after a delay of three hours and 20 minutes due to the threat of lightning on Friday morning. The second round will resume at 07:50 on Saturday, with round three starting no earlier than 10:20.
European Tour Release, 07 Aug 2021
