Shubhankar Sharma snatches the lead from Greg Moss

October 29, 2015: Indian golfers took centrestage at the halfway stage of the TAKE Solutions India Masters, Shubhankar Sharma leading the way with a brilliant 64 in the second round on Thursday. Overnight leader Greg Moss could only manage a 70, dropping to fourth on the leaderboard. S Chikkarangappa and Himmat Rai were tied in second at 13-under 131, two strokes behind Sharma.

Trishul Chinnappa, Lankan N Thangaraja, Naman Dawar, Rashid Khan and Shivendra Singh Sisodia were all knotted in fifth place at 9-under 135.

Shubhankar was irrepressible, striking a string of birdies – five on the front nine and four more on the return stretch to underline his presence. Sharma made 65 on Wednesday accounting for his two shot cushion at 15-under 129.

“Putting holds the key this week and my putting has been good in the first two rounds. My iron-play has also been spot-on and I’ve struck it well. I missed a couple of eagle opportunities today but was delighted with the recovery from the trees on the 11th where I salvaged a birdie,” said Sharma, whose best on the Asian Tour was a fourth place last year.

He added, “I’ve had a pretty decent season on the PGTI this year with three top-3s out of eight starts so far. The 40-day tour of the United States that I undertook this summer along with a few other Indian professionals has also helped me sharpen my game. I’ll just look to keep the intensity going over the next two days.”

Chikka showed he knew the course at Eagleton pretty well with a composed 66, containing three birdies on either side of his second round trek.

“I did well to get out of trouble a few times today. My best shot was the sand wedge approach from the rough from over 100 yards on the sixth that stopped within 10 feet of the hole and finally resulted in a birdie. I had 17 regulations today. I’m still very much in the hunt,” said Chikka.

“I feel, over the next two days, I need to focus on reading the lines better and tackling the pins that are tucked in corners,” added the reigning champion.

Himmat Rai added a 67 to his first round 64 – taking his tally of birdies this week to 14 – with six coming in the second round.

Coorgi, Trishul Chinnappa could not do an encore of his 65 in the first round, slipping two spots to T5 with a 70 in the second round.

Rashid Khan is also in T5, managing a 70 despite being damaged by a double bogey at the par-4 fifth and two other bogeys on Thursday.