Saudi International: Shiv Kapur best Indian at 18th after second round

Shiv Kapur remained the best-placed Indian after the second round at tied-18th spot but felt a little disappointment as he only managed to post 2-over 72 on the second day of Saudi International.

The 3-time Asian Tour champion Kapur, who was the best-placed Indian with 5-under 65 after the round one, shot 2-over 72 in the second to slip down from overnight 7th to the tied-18th position.

The second best Indian behind Kapur was the 2-European Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma, who also added a decent a 71 to his first day 67 to lie at tied-21 at the halfway stage of the US$ 5,000,000 prize money event.

While Rashid Khan, after a solid 4-under 66 in the first round, had a dreary day at the office and carded 5-over 75 to slip down to tied-45th heading into the weekend action at the star-studded event.

America’s Harold Varner and Adri Arnaus of Spain both posted similar scores in the first two rounds to share the top position.Both scored 6-under 64 in first and 4-under 66 in the second round to tie for first with a lead of 2 shots.

Cameron Smith and Matthew Wolff were a tie for third with two days total of 8-under 132. While Tommy Fleetwood was a further shot back at solo fifth.

2021 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson (69) played another steady round to remain in the hunt after the midway stage of the multi sponsored Asian Tour event. Joining Mickelson at 14th were the pre-tournament favourite and the defending champion Dustin Johnson, the Englishman Tyrell Hatton and Pablo Larrazabal of Spain.

15-time PGTI champion Chikkarangappa S missed the cut after having two disappointing rounds of 72 and 73 respectively. While the remaining two out of seven Indians, Veer Ahlawat and Khalin Joshi, also made an early exit.

The other notable who missed the cuts were Graeme McDowell, Oliver Fisher, Scott Vincent, Angelo Que and Rory Hie.