Ponte Vedra (USA), March 14 (IANS) First-round co-leader Sahith Theegala slipped down the leaderboard after a challenging second round at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida on Friday. Theegala carded a 2-over 74 in the second round, which pushed him down the standings to T-23 despite his strong opening round performance.

Meanwhile, Akshay Bhatia made a modest climb up the leaderboard with a steady 1-under 71, and he is T-28th.

Among the other players of Indian origin in the field, Sudarshan Yellamaraju successfully made the cut after posting rounds of 73 and 72 to sit in tied 52nd place. However, Indo-British golfer Aaron Rai was unable to progress to the weekend after recording back-to-back rounds of 74, leaving him outside the cut line.

Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg produced the standout performance of the day, firing a superb 9-under 63 to take the outright lead by two strokes. Starting his round on the front nine, Åberg came out remarkably with three birdies and an eagle in his first four holes. He continued his strong play and added another eagle on the ninth hole, finishing the front nine at an impressive 6-under par.

The 26-year-old continued to play confidently on the back nine. He added birdies on the 11th, 16th, and 18th holes while his only blemish of the round came with a bogey on the 15th. His excellent round lifted him to a total of 12-under par, giving him a two-shot advantage heading into the weekend.

The top two-ranked players in the field, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, both managed to make the cut but remain well down the leaderboard. Scheffler followed his opening round of 72 with a 73, while McIlroy improved with a second-round 71 after starting with a 74. Both players are currently tied for 51st place with a two-day total of 1-over par.

Theegala began his second round on the back nine and started positively with a birdie on the 11th hole. However, he quickly gave that shot back with a bogey on the 12th. His struggles continued as he dropped another shot on the first hole after making the turn and later suffered a costly double bogey on the sixth. A closing birdie on the ninth hole helped limit the damage, allowing him to finish the day tied for 23rd with a total score of 3-under par.

Akshay Bhatia began his round on the front nine and made an encouraging start with a birdie on the second hole, followed by another on the fourth. However, bogeys on the fifth and eighth holes meant he reached the turn at even par. Bhatia recovered well on the back nine, producing birdies on the 11th and 15th holes. Despite dropping a shot on the 14th, he signed for a 1-under 71 and now sits tied for 28th place with a total score of 2-under par.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju climbed one spot after an even-par round in the second round, leaving him tied for 51st with a total of 1-over par after 36 holes. With the cut set at 2-over par, Yellamaraju safely progressed to the weekend and will aim to improve his position over the final two rounds.

Xander Schauffele also moved up the leaderboard and currently occupies second place heading into the weekend. Starting on the back nine, he opened with a birdie on the 11th hole before recording his only bogey of the day on the 13th. Schauffele quickly bounced back with three consecutive birdies on the 14th, 15th, and 16th holes. He added four more birdies later in the round to finish at 10-under par, just two shots behind the leader.

Cameron Young holds third place at 9-under par after producing a strong second-round 5-under 67. Corey Connors and Justin Thomas are tied for fourth place at 8-under par. Connors also shot a 5-under 67, while Thomas posted a 4-under 68 for the second consecutive day.

–IANS

bsk/