First-round co-leader Sahith Theegala slipped down the leaderboard after a difficult second round at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.
Theegala carded a 2-over 74 that dropped him to tied 23rd despite his strong opening round. Akshay Bhatia, meanwhile, made a modest move up the standings with a steady 1-under 71 to sit tied 28th heading into the weekend.
Among the other players of Indian origin, Sudarshan Yellamaraju successfully made the cut after rounds of 73 and 72 to sit tied 52nd. Indo-British golfer Aaron Rai missed the cut after posting back-to-back rounds of 74.
Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg delivered the round of the day with a brilliant 9-under 63 to take the outright lead at 12-under, two shots clear of the field. Åberg started in spectacular fashion with three birdies and an eagle in his first four holes and added another eagle on the ninth to reach 6-under at the turn. He added birdies on the 11th, 16th and 18th, with his only blemish coming on the 15th.
Xander Schauffele sits second at 10-under after a strong round that included seven birdies. Cameron Young is third at 9-under following a 67, while Corey Connors and Justin Thomas share fourth place at 8-under.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy both made the cut but remain well down the leaderboard. Scheffler followed his opening 72 with a 73, while McIlroy improved with a second-round 71 after starting with a 74. Both are tied 51st at 1-over.
Theegala began his round on the back nine and briefly moved forward with a birdie on the 11th before giving the shot back on the 12th. Further trouble followed with another bogey after the turn and a costly double bogey on the sixth. A closing birdie on the ninth helped limit the damage as he ended the day at 3-under overall.
Bhatia started brightly with birdies on the second and fourth but dropped shots on the fifth and eighth to turn at level par. He recovered well on the back nine with birdies on the 11th and 15th before a bogey on the 14th saw him sign for a 71 and move to 2-under for the tournament.
With the cut set at 2-over, Yellamaraju safely advanced to the weekend at 1-over after an even-par second round.
Photo – PGAT
