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Sublime Fleetwood surges to solo lead at halfway stage
Tommy Fleetwood leads the DP World India Championship with an 8-under round, managing expectations after his first PGA Tour win, while Indian golfers perform well.
New Delhi: On the eve of the DP World India Championship this Wednesday, Tommy Fleetwood was asked whether competing after ending the torturous wait for a PGA Tour win will make things harder for him from now on. Fleetwood took a moment to put his thoughts together and acknowledged that managing one’s own expectations is one of the hardest things a sports person ought to do, and that in the week ahead, his biggest battle would be just that.
“I’ve missed out on winning so many times that I always knew that I wasn’t going to let one win change anything. My game is still the same,” he had said.
Three days on, he seems to be doing rather well on that front. Staying in the present, taking it shot by shot, and shooting birdies by the dozen, the 34-year-old Englishman has thrown the gauntlet to the elite field with a sublime error-free round on Friday. Teeing off from the back nine, Fleetwood flowered under the unrelenting sun even as greens became faster and his iron play became smarter.
The round of 8-under -- 12-under for the tournament -- placed him on top of the leaderboard in sole lead, one stroke clear of American Brian Harman and overnight leader Shane Lowry from Ireland. The cut was applied at 2-under as five Indians made it to the weekend rounds.
Fleetwood birdied on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 18th holes in the back nine before saving shots on the 1st, 4th, and 9th holes. The highlight was a 124-yard approach shot on the closing hole (ninth) that went ramrod straight and landed three feet from the flag. Sharing the lead with USA’s Brian Harman at that stage, Fleetwood nosed ahead with a clinical birdie putt and walked off to warm hugs and a rapturous applause.
“It’s such a unique challenge, and the greens are firming out a little bit and the pins have been tricky. It’s a test of patience when you’re not quite on it because it’s one of those courses where, if you hit it well off the tee, you’re going to have some short irons and wedges and feel like you’ve got a chance to get it wrong. It’s such a waiting game. You’ve got to be very patient,” Fleetwood analysed.
The highlight of his play was arguably a chip on the 14th to save par. Having landed smack in the centre of the bunker off his fourth shot, Fleetwood took his time to select his wedge, composed himself, and holed a brilliantly-timed chip. The birdie putt on the par 3 12th wasn’t bad either with the world No.5 curling it in almost at a right angle to par.
“Towards the end of the round yesterday (Thursday), I felt like my swing was a bit off. I wasn’t happy with how I hit it towards the end, so I hit some balls afterwards, and I felt like today the swing was in a better place,” Fleetwood said.
“I hit it in the fairway a lot today and gave myself some chances with irons. It’s easy talking about how many things you did well when you shot 8-under, but a really good round of golf. I just felt like I wanted to hit some balls and do some drills to get myself back to where I can give myself a good chance.”
The tournament’s biggest draw, Rory McIlroy, is at T-17, carding 3-under to be at 6-under for the tournament. The reigning Masters winner had a mixed day, sinking six birdies while also making bogeys on the first, 11th, and 12th holes.
“I felt I recovered well (after bogeys) and I scrambled well. On the front nine, I knew I had two par 5s coming up and I thought I could birdie those, get myself back in the tournament, and that’s what I did. It was a strong finish and I have got myself sort of back in the tournament. I need a strong start tomorrow,” he said.
Among the Indians, Shubhankar Sharma’s superb comeback stole the show as he produced a bogey-free 6-under 66 to gain 67 spots and end the day in tied 32nd place as the highest-placed Indian at a total of 4-under.
Dhruv Sheoran, Shiv Kapur, and Anirban Lahiri were the next best Indians in T-41 at 3-under while two-time PGTI winner Abhinav Lohan was the fifth and last Indian to make the cut, totalling 2-under to be placed tied 58th.
“I got off to a good start on Thursday but made some bad mistakes coming in, but I slept last night and I’m feeling a lot more fresh. I hit it well today, putting was good too but the mind was clear, and in the end, I’m really happy,” Sharma, a two-time winner on the European Tour, said.
