Rome, May 5 (PTI) India’s Shubhankar Sharma hit a 5-Iron to perfection for a hole-in-one as he made amends in the second round of the DS Automobiles Italian Open to be placed tied 16th here on Friday.

Sharma, who has been playing well but dropping some crucial strokes as he did last week, shot 2-over 74 on the first day despite an eagle on a Par-4.

His 74-67 saw him get to 2-under 140 for 36 holes and he was in the tied 16th place while Manu Gandas (71-80) had a rough time and missed the cut.

Matthieu Pavon (63-70) led the field at 9-under with Adrian Otaegui (68-67) who had an eagle two on Par-4 first, lying second. Otaegui was sole second at 7-under total.

Adrian Meronk, a star at Europe’s Ryder Cup preparatory event, the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi, was tied third with 68-68 at 6-under total.

Sharma started the second round from the 10th and in the worst possible manner with bogeys on first and second holes, at which point he was staring at an early exit.

He quickly recovered with three birdies in a row from 12th to 14th. Then on the 17th, he drove precisely on the Par-3 17th from 217 yards and holed it for a great ace. That saw him take the turn in 3-under 33 and he moved into red numbers for the tournament.

A birdie on Par-4 fifth saw him get to 4-under for the day and 2-under for the tournament.

Pavon followed up his first day heroics of 8-under 63 with 1-under 70 and stayed in lead at 9-under at the halfway stage. He began his second round in style with three birdies in a row from 11th to 13th but bogeys on 14th and 17th and then one more on eighth saw him drop back.

He finished with a birdie on ninth for a 70.

Pavon has a lot to play for at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club this week, with a maiden DP World Tour title and the chance to capture European Captain Luke Donald’s attention for one of the spots on this year’s Ryder Cup team.

The 30-year-old Pavon’s sensational opening round had nine birdies and a single bogey to reach eight under par. He turned in 29 after reeling off six birdies on the front nine before adding three more gains and one bogey down the stretch.

Maximilian Kieffer was alone in second on six under after making an eagle, five birdies and one bogey in his 65. In the second round Kieffer had an eagle on 18th and a double bogey on fifth as he was even par for the day with four holes to play.

France’s Julien Guerrier and China’s Wu Ashun, who shot 5-under 66 each in first round, had just begun the second round with pars.

Source: PTI News