India’s Shubhankar Sharma and England’s Jordan Smith share the lead on 13 under par ahead of round three of the Horizon Irish Open at The K Club.
First-round leader Sharma added a 66 to his opening 65 in the first half of the second day’s play to put clear daylight between himself and the rest of the field.
However, he was overtaken by Smith when the Englishman carded his eighth birdie of the day at the 15th hole to move to 14 under par.
A double-bogey six at the 17th saw him relinquish that lead, but it was just a brief setback as he birdied the last to add a 65 to his opening 66 and draw level with Sharma.
England’s Ross Fisher carded a second consecutive 66 to sit one off the lead on 12 under, with Germany’s Hurly Long (66) another shot further back.
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Shane Lowry carded a second successive 68 to move to eight under, while Rory McIlroy’s 70 leaves him eight off the lead on five under, the same score as Mark Power (71).
Padraig Harrington (69), Tom McKibbin (70) and Conor Purcell (68) all moved to two-under, just enough to make the weekend.
Following a 30-minute delay due to early morning fog, overnight leader Sharma raced to the turn in just 28 shots with seven birdies and two pars.
A first bogey of the week on the par-five 10th halted Sharma’s momentum and although he bounced back immediately with a birdie on the 11th, the 27-year-old could only cover the last seven holes in one over par.
“It was a really early morning start for us so I was a bit sleepy but I managed to make a lot of putts on the front nine,” Sharma said.
“I had nine single putts which was amazing, I don’t think I’ve done that before. Everything was just flowing nicely, I was hitting it in the right spots and was really good inside 10 feet so it all came together.
“It was still as hot as yesterday, which is quite unusual for Ireland, but I quite like this weather and the greens were better today because we played in the morning.
“There are some tough pin positions but if you’re on with your putter there will be low scores out there. I made some changes in the first half of the season but I’m finally seeing the results.”
Sharma won his first DP World Tour title in December 2017 and his second just two months later, but has yet to taste victory since and has recorded only two top-10 finishes this season, although the most recent was in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
“I took a four-week break after the Open and was sick last week, so spent most of the weekend sleeping on my couch, but I still have good memories from the Open so I am just trying to continue that form,” he added.
“I’m obviously very keen on getting back into the winner’s circle but it’ll happen when it happens.
“I can only control the controllables, have a good positive mindset on the weekend and I’m sure it will happen soon rather than later.”
