Course record done, Sharma knows a thing or two about closing out

What a round Shubhankar Sharma played on the second day of the Hero Indian Open. If it was Emiliano Grillo who sizzled on the first day, it was the in-form Shubhankar’s turn on Friday. Grillo equalled the course record on Thursday and Shubhankar bettered it a day later.

Six-under on the back nine and eight-under for a new record at the challenging DLF Golf and Country Club course, which he calls as his home, was incredible. At 7-under 137 for the tournament — he was one-over in the first round — he sits sole second behind another amazing man, Grillo, who added 64 to his first round 65 to get into double digits at 11-under.

Shubhankar’s 64 gave him a chance to catch up the Argentine over the last two rounds. Half the tournament is done, but there is one half left. Shubhankar knows a thing or two about closing.

The action on the first two days showed that good and really low scores are possible, if only you are willing to be patient. Grillo did that on Thursday and Friday and Shubhankar did that on Friday. There are as many as 30 players in red numbers and 35 are par or better. I was also very happy to see Khalin Joshi make a good move with a 68 that put him in top 10.

India’s young guns putting on a decent show included amateur Kshitij Naveed Kaul, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Udayan Mane and teenager Karandeep Kochar as they all made the cut. While SSP Chawrasia had another off day, Anirban Lahiri grinded it out and made the cut comfortably to give himself a chance to strike back over the weekend.

Amidst the young stars, there was veteran Jyoti Randhawa, who ensured that the senior generation was still represented.

From an Indian point of view it meant that the local fans will have a lot to look forward to over the weekend. Personally, it was a missed cut by one. After a birdie on the 18th, I thought I was in. But suddenly there was a birdie elsewhere from someone else and I was again out. So I shall watch from the sidelines over the weekend and root for the youngsters.