Sharma lies third; Ahlawat makes cut with brilliant 63 in Joburg Open

Johannesburg: Shubhankar Sharma stayed in contention at the Joburg Open with a superb 6-under 65 in the second round, following his opening 66 to reach 9-under and sit tied third at the halfway stage at Houghton Golf Club.

Shaun Norris (66-63) leads the field at 11-under despite battling an ear infection, with Frenchman Adrien Saddier (65-65) one shot behind in second. Sharma shares third place with Connor Syme (66-65).

There was further good news for India, as Veer Ahlawat, who got to the DP World Tour by topping the PGTI Order of Merit, shot 7-under 63, the day’s equal best to make the cut.

He jumped from tied-127th after first round to tied-30th.

Sharma, the 2017 Joburg Open winner, fondly remembered his win.

"Coming back to South Africa is always special, and the Joburg Open was my first win and which got me onto the DP World Tour. It was life changing," he said.

Ahlawat was thrilled with the 7-under 63, which is his best on the DP World Tour.

"My game was feeling solid since the start of the week even in the practice round. I was hitting the ball really well. So I knew the game was pretty good. But in the last few tournaments I was struggling with my short game a little bit," said Ahlawat.

"This week, even the short game was feeling solid. Yet during the first round, I didn't hole a lot of putts. I was struggling to read the real lines well.

"But today (in the second round), I did strike the ball really well and I hit the shots to within a 10 feet circle a lot of times. The good thing was I was able to hole putts so that's what helped me go low.

"I knew I needed a low round to make the cut. In my mind the cut was going at three-under par so I knew I would need to shoot at least a six-under par round to have a chance to make the cut. I'm feeling confident about the game. Ball striking is good and I'm giving myself a lot of birdie chances so that's good," he added.

Norris produced a strong 63 on Friday to lead on 11 under par overall, with Frenchman Adrien Saddier his nearest challenger on 10 under after a 65 in which he dropped at the last to sacrifice a share of the lead.

Norris has played sublime golf over the past two days despite the fact that he has been in pain with an ear infection that refuses to clear, and which has even made it difficult for him to sleep.

Norris heads into the weekend hunting his third DP World Tour title, and his second in just under three months after winning December’s Alfred Dunhill Championship.