Shubhankar Sharma is on a roll. He made the cut at the Open yet again as he signed for a one-over-par 72 in the second round of The 148th Open on Friday.  “I’ll need to do some putting as I wasn’t really rolling it the way I was yesterday on the back-nine. I was kind of tentative and didn’t really have the right speed on the greens. I’ve to work on that,” said Sharma.

 

 

 

 

 

Sharma started his round in tied-20th place after opening with a bogey-free 70. However, he dropped his first shot of the week at the par-four first hole. He recovered quickly with a birdie on the second hole but gave that shot back again with another bogey on the fourth hole. He made successive birdies on holes six and seven but they were offset by bogeys on 12 and 14 before he closed his round with four straight pars starting from the 15th hole.

 

 

“It was just bad. On the first hole, I just pulled it and on the fourth, the wind just took it a little bit and went in the bunker. And on 12, I misjudged my shot and so I lost three shots there,” said Sharma. The 22-year-old, who will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday, is looking forward to a restart where he can hopefully haul himself back into the mix again.

 

The three-time Open champion finished six over and missed the cut for the second time this year in a major in a season that began with him winning the Masters for the fifth time. He was slowed by the par fives, which he played in one over for the round and two over for the week.

 

The leaders 

 

 

The three biggest names in English golf at the moment are Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose and, rather thrillingly for a country looking to end its 27-year Claret Jug void, they also happen to be the top three Englishmen on this leaderboard at the halfway point of the 148th Open Championship.

 

 

 

 

And while Shane Lowry is convincing the huge crowds they could soon be celebrating an Irish winner as Royal Portrush proudly hosts its first major in 68 years, the St George trio are tantalisingly poised.

 

On eight under after a second-round 67, Lowry is in a share of the lead with the American JB Holmes.

 

 

Dramatic exit by Rory

 

 

 

 

 

McIlroy misses the cut by one shot after a brilliant round of 65. McIlroy fell short – only just – in his attempt to reach the weekend of the 148th Open Championship but the swell of support afforded to him felt like a victory in itself.

 

 

Injured Tiger Woods exits

 

 

An injured Tiger Woods and an emotional Rory McIlroy both missed the cut at The Open Championship and the former said he couldn't wait to get home after exiting the major at the Royal Portrush golf course in Northern Ireland.

 

Woods began the back-nine with two birdies and had a chance to post a good score at three under through 11 holes, but that was his last birdie and he closed with two straight bogeys for one under 70 in his second round on Friday (Saturday NZ time).

 

MORE INTERESTING SNIPPETS

 

• Brooks Koepka (T8) enters the weekend in the top 20 for the 12th time in his last 12 majors played
• Despite a 14-shot improvement (79-65), Rory McIlroy misses the cut; last missed cut at The Open was in 2013, which he followed with a win (2014), T5 (2016), T4 (2017) and T2 (2018)
• Marks the first major (of 83 possible), Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both played and missed the cut
• Portrush native Graeme McDowell (73-70) and defending champion Francesco Molinari (74-69) make the cut on the number
• Four players post 6-under 65s, low score through two rounds: Justin Harding (T5), Xander Schauffele (T18), Kevin Streelman (T48) and Rory McIlroy (MC)