Everything you need to know from Friday's second round at DLF Golf and Country Club.
Yannik Paul turned his narrow lead into a commanding one on day two of the 2023 Hero Indian Open.
Here is everything you need to know from Friday's second round at DLF Golf and Country Club.
Paul storms into five-shot lead
Yannik Paul began the day with a one-stroke advantage but made four birdies and a bogey in his second round to move to ten under par and open up a commanding five-shot lead. Paul secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2022 Mallorca Golf Open in October, and he feels that experience can help him over the weekend. He said: "It feels good when you feel like you can first of all get over the line and second of all, make a putt when it matters. I only noticed that last week, I was a bit calmer and more collected because you feel like you've gained experience last year and that helped me last week. I'll try not to focus too much on the leaderboard, on a course like this anything can happen so I'll just focus on my game plan and see where I end up."
The scorecard paints no pictures
Shubhankar Sharma looked in danger of running up a big number at the sixth hole when his chip from the rough around the green only moved a couple of feet forward before rolling back, almost to his feet. But at the second time of asking, he chipped in for a bonus par. What a recovery.
Bunker ruling
Have you ever wondered what the ruling would be if two balls collided in a bunker? Well you're about to find out...
What's the ruling for when two balls collide in a bunker? 🤔
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 24, 2023
Find out here 🔊#HIO2023 pic.twitter.com/rDcPcuz06H
MacIntyre's perfect putt
Robert MacIntyre sank this enormous eagle putt at the par-five eighth, judging the speed perfectly. It wiped out the double bogey he had carded at the sixth and helped him make the cut as he signed for a second-round 74.
Higa goes low
On a day when many of the players struggled, Kazuki Higa well and truly bucked the trend as he shot the first bogey-free round of the week. His spotless 66 was the lowest score of the day by two shots and was very nearly even better as his tricky chip from the bank at the 18th almost went in for a bonus birdie. Instead it hit the hole and narrowly stayed above ground. Adrien Saddier also made no bogeys in his 68 later in the day. They shot just the 11th and 12th spotless rounds in the four editions of the this event which have been staged on this course.
