India’s young golfing sensation Shubhankar Sharma on Friday fired a course record of eight-under 64 to stay within touching distance of clubhouse leader Emiliano Grillo on the second day of the Indian Open.

Argentina’s Grillo, who scored four-under 68 after his course-record equalling 65 in the opening round at the DLF golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, remains top of the leaderboard.

21-year-old Sharma said he was pleased with his performance on Friday, which leaves him four shots off the lead in sole second place at seven-under for the tournament.

“This is a tough course and it is not easy to go low here. I am very happy with the way I played,” he said in a statement.

“Today’s round will definitely rank up there as one of my most significant achievements, especially when it is played at this course,” Sharma added.

Home favourite Sharma had an ordinary start on Thursday after shooting one-over at the Gurgaon course, considered among the toughest on the Asian and European tour.

“If you told me I would be seven-under-par going into the weekend after being five-over-par on my opening nine holes yesterday, I would just have laughed,” he said.

Sharma has shot up the world golf rankings after a stellar few months, with wins at the European Tour’s Joburg Open in December and Maybank Championship this February, and a strong showing at the WGC-Mexico Championships last weekend.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal scored a one-under 71 and was tied for third spot with English golfer Andrew Johnston, who hit six-under 66 for a total of 138.

Nine of the total 144 golfers were not able to finish their second round on Friday because of fading light.

Provided by AFP Sport