Aditi makes the cut at US Women's Open, Shubhankar avoids elimination at Memorial

Aditi starting from 10th, bogeyed the 14th and had pars on the rest of the back nine. On the second nine, she birdied the first and second and pushed herself up. But she gave away both those shots on third and fourth before getting another birdie on the ninth.

Aditi Ashok (left) made the cut at the US Women's Open and Shubhankar Sharma (right) avoided elimination on the second day of the Memorial Golf Tournament.

It was a good day for Indian golf with Aditi Ashok making the cut at the US Women's Open and Shubhankar Sharma rallying his way from a rough front nine on the back of a rare albatross on the second day of the Memorial Golf Tournament to avoid elimination alongside compatriot Anirban Lahiri.

A first for Aditi

Aditi, who birdied three times on her second nine including the final hole to card an even-par 71, was one-over 143 and placed tied 33rd as there were still many players yet to complete the round.

Mamiko Higa of Japan, who shot a six-under 65 in her first-ever US Women’s Open round on Thursday, rallied with birdies on three of her last six holes on Friday to post an par 71 and maintain a one-stroke lead in the weather-hit second round.

Aditi starting from 10th, bogeyed the 14th and had pars on the rest of the back nine. On the second nine, she birdied the first and second and pushed herself up. But she gave away both those shots on third and fourth before getting another birdie on the ninth.

READ: Aditi Ashok: Putting herself on the path to glory

The round was suspended for nearly two hours in the late afternoon due to thunderstorms. Play was halted for the day with Higa leading Jessica Korda by one stroke.

Amateur Gina Kim, 19, shot one-over 72 on Friday for a four-under total of 138 and sits in alone at third among players who completed the round, although Celine Boutier of France was also at four-under with four holes left to play.

Shubhankar halts steep slide

Shubhankar, meanwhile, added an par 71 to his first-round 73 and totalled an even par to finish the halfway stage at tied 55th at Muirfield Village.

In the afternoon, Lahiri, who started from the tenth, ran into five boggies in a six-hole stretch but managed to halt the steep slide thereafter to card a four-over 76 and make the cut at one-under 143 and tied 44th, which was a big fall from his first round tied 3rd place.

Two-time Major winner, Martin Kaymer birdied all the Par-5s on the way to four-under 68 and shared the lead with Troy Merritt (66) and Kyoung-Hoon Lee (67). They were at 9-under 135. Jordan Spieth had a 70 and was another shot behind.

Tiger Woods (72) was Tied-33 and could have been closer but for his double on 15th. Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas missed the cut as Justin Rose (63) moved from T-78 to T-10.

Sharma, who smashed a 2-Iron from 250 yards for his albatross was stunned with the perfect shot, which came after he bogeyed the 11th, double bogeyed the 14th and then the 18th to play his first nine in three-over 39.

In between he birdied the 15th. At that stage he was three-over for the day and four-over for the tournament and looked in danger of missing the weekend.

On the second nine, he first steadied himself with four pars and then landed the albatross on Par-5 fifth to jump to an even par for the day and a 21-foot birdie on sixth brought him to even for the tournament. He had a birdie chance on each of the last three holes but missed them all.

“That was a great feeling to have the ball disappearing for an albatross and it gave me a fresh lease of life in the tournament. I am happy with the finish as I gave myself a lot of chances, though I did not convert them,” said Sharma, who had his first albatross in December 2014 at a domestic PGTI event in Kolkata in India. Sharma’s albatross was the fifth of the PGA Tour season.

(With inputs from PTI)