Lahiri slips, Sharma rises

Dublin (US), June 1 

A rare albatross helped Shubhankar Sharma rally back from a rough first-nine to make the cut along with compatriot Anirban Lahiri after the second day of the Memorial Golf Tournament.

Sharma shot a 1-under 71 for a total of even-par to finish the halfway stage at tied-55th at Muirfield Village. Lahiri, who started from the 10th hole, made five bogeys in a six-hole stretch but managed to halt the steep slide thereafter to card a 4-over 76 for a total of 1-under 143. From tied-third after Round 1, Lahiri fell to tied-44th. 

Sharma made two bogeys and one double along with two birdies and an albatross. The 22-year-old smashed a 2-iron from 250 yards for his albatross on the par-5 fifth, a 533-yard dogleg-right hole.

“That was a great feeling to have the ball disappearing for an albatross and it gave me a fresh lease of life in the tournament,” said Sharma, who had his first albatross in December 2014 at a domestic PGTI event in Kolkata. Sharma’s albatross was the fifth of the PGA Tour season.

“I am happy with the finish as I gave myself a lot of chances, though I did not convert them,” he added.

Lahiri bogeyed from the 11th to 14th. He birdied the 15th only to drop a shot again on the 16th. He birdied the seventh.

Double-bogey derails Woods

Tiger Woods’ challenge at the Memorial tournament suffered a blow in the second round with a late double-bogey that left him seven strokes off the lead while Justin Rose shot a best of the day 63 to haul himself back into contention.

Jordan Spieth remained a stroke off the lead with a 70, with Troy Merritt (66), South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-hoon (67) and German Martin Kaymer (68) tied at the top on 9-under 135. Woods overcame a shaky start to make three birdies before putting up a seven at the par-five 15th en route to an even-par 72.

“I didn’t really get anything going today,” Woods said. “I was just kind of plugging along. All of us were watching Rosie get things going on the front nine.” 

After opening with a 75, Rose, who played with Woods, turned his day around by going 10-under in a 12-hole stretch that included two eagles and six birdies. He finished the day three shots off the lead on 6-under 138. — Agencies

Aditi makes cut at the women’s US Open

Charleston (US): Indian golfer Aditi Ashok birdied three times in her second-nine to card an even-par 71 and make the cut at the US Women’s Open. Aditi is tied-33rd at 1-over 143, but many players were yet to complete their rounds. Mamiko Higa of Japan rallied with birdies on three of her last six holes on Friday to post an even-par 71 and maintain a one-stroke lead in the weather-hit Round 2. The round was suspended for two hours in the late afternoon due to thunderstorms. Play was halted for the day with Higa leading Jessica Korda by one stroke.

Gangjee moves up

Ibaraki (Japan): Rahil Gangjee shot a 3-over 75 but still moved up the leaderboard at the end of Round 3 of the Mizuno Open. Gangjee is tied-44th at 6-over. PTI