The spirit of a soldier flows in the veins of Shubhankar Sharma. He recovered from an opening 73, firing five birdies in the second round to dip under par and secure his spot for the weekend. At the halfway stage, Shane Lowry and Matthew Fitzpatrick produced an emphatic 65 in the second round to snatch the lead. The duo was one ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, who is 11-under with a 67.
Sharma started the day under pressure, 1-over after 18 holes. The 24-year-old started the day with a couple of birdies in the first four holes. But his charge was nullified when the course extracted consecutive bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes.
The resilient Indian bounced back with two straight birdies to race past the turn in 33 strokes. After five straight pars, Shubhankar conceded a third bogey at the par-3 14th hole. But he recovered the loss with a birdie at the final hole for a two-under 70 through 36 holes.
On Friday, Shubhankar made 79% of the fairways and 83% of the greens in regulation. But despite striking the ball so well, the putter just did not sing his tune, taking him 33 putts to navigate the 18 holes. While Shubhankar is inside the top ten on driving accuracy and greens in regulation, his putting rates him outside the top 100 this week. It could turn out to be a brilliant weekend, if he enjoys some luck around the greens.
Lowry was bogey-free in the second round, finishing the day with two straight birdies for his seven-under 65. Fitzpatrick suffered a bogey on the par-4 eighth hole, but he more than made up for it, with a string of birdies on either side plus an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole.
“Everything’s been solid, really. I drove the ball well, chipped well, putted well, iron play is good. So it’s been nice that it’s all come together to be honest. I feel the last few weeks, I’ve done three things well and one thing’s been off. It’s nice for it all to come together,” said Fitzpatrick.
“It’s nice being back in the UK. I wish it was a bit warmer, but it is great. The golf courses the last two weeks, the hospitality, just being back on The European Tour seeing familiar places is great.
“This is my best position since I’ve been here at Wentworth. I love the golf course. I’ve always felt it suited my game but I’ve never really kicked on around here, but if I can just keep playing how I’ve been playing, make some putts, as well, there’s no reason why I can’t finish it off.”
Second round scores
132 S LOWRY (IRL) 67 65, M FITZPATRICK (ENG) 67 65,
133 T HATTON (ENG) 66 67,
135 J HANSEN (DEN) 68 67, V PEREZ (FRA) 69 66,
136 A ARNAUS (ESP) 66 70, G FORREST (SCO) 69 67,
137 E PEPPERELL (ENG) 67 70, S HEND (AUS) 68 69,
138 G GREEN (MAS) 67 71, R FOX (NZL) 68 70, P REED (USA) 70 68,
139 W ORMSBY (AUS) 68 71, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 68 71, M SCHWAB (AUT) 68 71, I POULTER (ENG) 69 70, R ROCK (ENG) 69 70, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 70 69, D HORSEY (ENG) 70 69, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 71 68, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 72 67, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 67, J GUERRIER (FRA) 72 67, J SMITH (ENG) 72 67,
140 G HIGGO (RSA) 69 71, M WALLACE (ENG) 69 71, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 71 69, D HOWELL (ENG) 72 68, A LEVY (FRA) 72 68,
141 J LAGERGREN (SWE) 69 72, L WESTWOOD (ENG) 70 71, K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 71 70, M KAYMER (GER) 73 68, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 73 68,
142 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 72, D WILLETT (ENG) 71 71, T OLESEN (DEN) 71 71, K BROBERG (SWE) 71 71, R RAMSAY (SCO) 71 71, J WANG (KOR) 72 70, S CROCKER (USA) 72 70, R PARATORE (ITA) 73 69, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 73 69,
143 J ROSE (ENG) 68 75, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 70 73, M BULLEN (ENG) 71 72, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 72, T PIETERS (BEL) 72 71, T DETRY (BEL) 72 71, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 72 71, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 72 71, S GALLACHER (SCO) 72 71, S SHARMA (IND) 73 70, G MCDOWELL (NIR) 73 70, N ELVIRA (ESP) 74 69, T AIKEN (RSA) 75 68,
144 T PULKKANEN (FIN) 71 73, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 71 73, M PAVON (FRA) 71 73, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 71 73, C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA) 72 72, R FISHER (ENG) 72 72, O FISHER (ENG) 72 72, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 73 71, E VAN ROOYEN (RSA) 76 68, J STALTER (FRA) 76 68,
