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Shubhankar Sharma missed his 15th cut in a row as he crashed out of the BMW PGA Championship with rounds of 71-74 as the first cut fell at 2-under with 82 players. A second additional cut will be applied after the third round, after which a maximum of 78 players will play the final round.
Sharma, who has not made a cut since the Indian Open in his home country, has been struggling with his form since then. Veer Ahlawat, who came through by topping the PGTI Order of Merit in India, did not get into the field this week. Hideki Matsuyama leads the field by one shot at the halfway stage after firing two extraordinary eagles in his second round 64. Still, he has a world-class chasing pack waiting to pounce over the weekend. The tournament debutant found himself four shots off the lead at the conclusion of the weather-affected first round but soon set about closing the gap when he teed off in the afternoon. The Major Champion turned in 31 after making an eagle and two birdies on the front nine before a run of three gains in four holes after the turn catapulted him up the leaderboard. Matsuyama bogeyed the 15th following an errant tee-shot but bounced back in style with a chip-in eagle on the 17th to take the outright lead on 12 under par. European Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland share second place on 11 under, with Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal another stroke further back. Rory McIlroy (69-72), Shane Lowry (67-74) were tied 44th, while Tommy Fleetwood birdied the 18th to shoot 69 after a first round 73 to be T-61. (ANI)
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