Singapore, March 22 (IANS) India’s Shubhankar Sharma finished with a double bogey followed by an eagle in the weather-hit Porsche Singapore Classic at the Laguna National Resort here on Saturday. Sharma, who shot 68 in the first round, added a 72 in the second to be T-38 as the event was reduced to 54 holes. The first round was cancelled due to heavy rain.
Sharma is now 4-under for 36 holes, but fellow Indian Veer Ahlawat, who is hoping to go one better at the Hero Indian Open next week after finishing second last year, had a rough time. Veer missed the cut with 73-79.
Dan Erickson, who came to the Tour through the Q-School birdied the last hole to take the outright lead after two rounds. The American was among the late starters on Day Two, which took place on Saturday after the tournament was reduced to 54 holes following Thursday’s washout. He carded a brilliant 64 to reach the summit at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
It is a tight race for the title in which 25 players are within four shots of Erickson’s 11-under-par score.
Sharma turned in one-over after bogeys on the fourth and the ninth with a birdie in between on the seventh. He birdied the 11th and the 13th to go one-under but a bogey on the 16th followed by a double bogey on the 17th ruined his day. Yet he fought back to eagle the 18th for an even-par 72.
Tom McKibbin, who was the sole leader at 11 under before a bogey at the ninth – his last hole – saw him drop back, Adrien Saddier, Matthew Jordan, Tom McKibbin, Fabrizio Zanotti, and Richard Mansell are all locked at ten under with a fascinating 18 holes remaining.
Having turned professional in 2013, Shubhankar has eight professional wins in his career so far and has enjoyed the highest World Ranking of 64 in March 2018.
In December 2017, the 28-year-old Shubhankar recorded his first win on the European Tour in the Joburg Open and followed this with a second win at the Maybank Championship in February 2018. He has two wins on the European Tour, two on the Asian Tour, one on Sunshine Tour and six on other tours so far.
–IANS
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