Rome, Sep 17 (Golf News) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma shot 1-under 70 with a superb back nine that had four birdies, but still missed the cut at the Italian Open here.

The turnaround came too late as his front nine of 3-over had damaged his chances along with 4-over 75 first round.

Rory McIlroy finished his second round minutes after the hooter was sounded off to signal the end of play on the second day due to fading light. He birdied the final 18th and took a one-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick at the top of the leader board. McIlroy shot 66 and was nine-under for the 36 holes.

Sharma, who is 36th on the DP World Tour rankings, has been having a disappointing run after a superb runner-up finish at the Abu Dhabi Championships in January. In his last 15 starts, he has missed 11 cuts, since his tied 13th finish in Kenya.

McIlroy made a stunning eagle, six birdies and three bogeys as he played some world-class golf at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

First-round leader Fitzpatrick produced a second-round 69 which contained five straight birdies to get to eight under, having earlier returned to put the finishing touches to his first round.

Tom Lewis was alone in third on seven under after making eight birdies and two bogeys in his second-round 65.

Victor Perez was on six-under for two days, one clear of the large group containing Europe's Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, who himself impressed as he took a closer look at next year's host venue and several prospective team members.

Frenchman Julien Quesne had a day to remember as he made a hole-in-one at the short fourth from 187 yards with a nine iron.

Play was suspended early at 7.20 pm local time with the second round set to resume at 8 am on Saturday. 

Also Read : Diksha shoots 66 with 5 straight birdies, lies T-12 in France; all 4 Indians make cut

News Source : PTI