Paris, Aug 2 (PTI) Shubhankar Sharma landed two eagles in his second round but gave away four shots in the middle to card 2-under 69 for the day, which placed him 25th in the golf competition at the Olympics here on Friday.
Put alongside his first round 70, he was 3-under for two days at the at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris.
Sharma said he played well but the tough course got him at times and the three bogeys from seventh to the ninth cost a lot. It included a three-putt and some other putts just did not go his way, with the last one on the 18th stopping at the lip.
The other Indian, Gaganjeet Bhullar improved on his first round 75 with a 2-under 69 and is now T-52nd.
Three players, including defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, were in shared first place at 11-under.
Schauffele, who is in the form of his life, added 66 to his first round 65 to get to 11-under and join first-round leader Hideki Matsuyama, who lost a bronze in Tokyo in a seven-man play-off for the third place.
Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood, who said he loved the Olympic atmosphere and said he remembered the time Justin Rose won the Olympic gold in 2016, shot 64 to add to his 67.
Jon Rahm (67-66) was sole fourth, while Belgian Thomas Detry shot the day’s best card of 63 after a first round 71 to be tied fifth with Tokyo bronze medallist CT Pan (69-65) and Korean Tom Kim (66-68).
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (67-69) was T-10 and Rory McIlroy (68-69) was Tied-13.
Sharma said, “I played well but it was one of those days. I did go all out, but there are times when putts don’t fall. I was thrilled with the eagles, three in all so far with one in the first round and two in the second round.
“I am something like 7-under from the six Par-5s and that looks good. There are still two more rounds to go and there are low rounds to be had as we saw on both days. We have had a couple of 63s and quite a few 64s and 65s.” There at 60 players and there is no cut.
Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 after more than 100 years. It was held in 1900 and 1904 and when it came back in 2016 in Rio, Justin Rose won the gold and in Tokyo, Schauffele secured the top spot.
Source: PTI News
