Aberdeenshire (Scotland), Aug 22 — Shubhankar Sharma ended his streak of four missed cuts as he made the weekend rounds at the Nexo Championship. He produced the shot of the day with a spectacular hole-in-one on the sixth hole during an even-par second round.
Sharma, who opened with a 73 on Thursday, followed it with a 72 to reach one-over 145 after 36 holes and was T-22 and comfortably made the weekend rounds at Trump International Golf Links.
The other Indian in the field Yuvraj Sandhu (75-79) missed the cut.
Starting his second round from the first tee, Sharma opened with a birdie before dropping a shot at the fifth. He then delivered the highlight of his round at the par-three sixth, holing his tee shot for a sensational ace.
The Indian subsequently picked up birdies at the 12th and 13th, but his progress was checked by bogeys at the ninth, 11th, 15th and 16th. He eventually signed for a level-par 72.
The ace was particularly significant for Sharma, who has endured a difficult stretch on the DP World Tour. The weekend appearance gives the two-time DP World Tour winner an opportunity to build momentum and climb the leaderboard over the final 36 holes.
At the top, England's Matthew Southgate took a one-stroke lead into the weekend after a second straight two-under 70 moved him to four-under for the tournament.
Southgate, who started the day three shots off the lead, negotiated the testing and windy conditions in Aberdeenshire with a disciplined round. He made a birdie at the 17th before dropping his only shot of the day at the sixth. A chip-in eagle at the seventh provided the decisive moment and lifted him into outright first.
Matthew Jordan, who finished runner-up in Denmark last week, carded a three-under 69 to share second place at three-under with South African Shaun Norris, who also shot 69.
Also tied second were Scotland's Scott Jamieson and overnight leader Marcus Kinhult.