Shubhankar Sharma makes early exit at Andalucia Masters golf
Sharma endured another rough outing as he was unable to card a single birdie in either round.
Shubhankar Sharma’s poor run on the European Tour continued as the Indian golfer could not make the cut at the Andalucia Masters on Friday.
The Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain holds a special place in Indian golf because it brought about one of Jeev Milkha Singh’s most special European Tour titles – the then season-ending, prestigious Volvo Masters in 2006.
However, the memories were not so sweet for Shubhankar Sharma on what is considered one of the toughest courses on the tour.
The Indian golfer struggled in the windy conditions and strong greens, carding five bogeys and two double-bogeys to end the opening round with 10-over 81.
Friday did not bring about a change in fortunes.
The 24-year-old Sharma began with a bogey on the par-4 first and went on to card another one on the sixth before ending the first part of the course with a double-bogey on the par-4 ninth.
The back nine proved to be much better for the Indian golfer, who scored pars on all holes save for a bogey on the par-4 14th.
Shubhankar Sharma eventually ended with a five-over 76 for the round and finished tied-109th after an overall score of 15-over 157.
John Catlin leads the charts
American golfer John Catlin sat in the outright lead as he shot a one-under 70 in the second round to complement his two-under 69 from the opening round.
Scotsman Connor Syme, who shared the lead after the opening round, found the going tougher in the second, carding five bogeys to four birdies and ended the round with a one-over 72 for an overall score of one-under 141 and share the second spot with Jamie Donaldson and Pablo Larrazabal.
The difficult conditions meant that the cut came in at eight-over.
Catlin, Syme, Donaldson and Larrazabal were the only golfers to end with under-par scores after two rounds though Wilco Nienaber followed close behind with an even-par.