Solid Shubhankar makes day 2 gains at Maybank

By Rahul Banerji

Defending champion Shubhankar Sharma made big gains on day two of the $3 million Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur on Friday, moving up from his overnight 1-under par 71 way down the field to tied 11^th place at 5-under 139, three shots off the lead.

Thomas Pieters of Belgium took sole possession atop the Maybank leaderboard at the halfway mark with an 8-under 136 (67, 69) and 3-under for the day, one ahead of Indonesia’s Danny Masrin who is playing the event as one of the five Asean national special invitees and overnight co-leader Nacho Elvira of Spain.

Sharma opened with an eagle 3 on the par-5 first hole and though he was to drop a shot two holes later, a further three birdies including one on the 18^th saw him climb 29 places on the day.

Solid putting

Playing alongside Presidents Cup Internationals captain Ernie Els, Sharma needed just 27 putts on the day and would have certainly made an impression, which he has a further two days to build on now.

For his part, Els was one ahead of Sharma on 6-under 138 with six others including Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz Janewattananond, who has been in ripe form this year.

Best placed among the 10 Indians in the Maybank field after the first day, Gaganjeet Bhullar has an off day on Friday, finishing 3-over for the day and in a share of 43^rd place while two-time Indian open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia also finished over par but did enough to make the cut that came at 1-over par 145.

Rough day

On Thursday, Bhullar had gone 4-under, but made the point that he had still struggled. “I made a lot of unforced errors. I started the round with a bogey and made a couple of other bogeys where I could have easily made pars. But I finished the round with a birdie and that was pleasing.

“Apart from those errors, it was a decent round of golf. Asia’s home for me and I get inspired each time I come back and play in this part of the world. I’ve been quite consistent this season and giving myself opportunities over the weekend. The goal is to keep on working hard and improving every year.”

Also making it to the weekend rounds were Viraj Madappa (2-under 142) and Ajeetesh Sandhu and Chikkarangappa S. on level-par 144s. Khalin Joshi, Arjun Atwal, Shiv Kapur and Rahil Ganjee were the ones to miss out.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship resumes soon with Anirban Lahiri placed in a share of 28^th place on 1-under par 70.

Follow the action as it happens here: Valspar Championship