Viraj Madappa in shared lead after 27 holes at International Series England

India's Viraj Madappa grabbed a share of the lead midway through the second round as he picked four birdies in his first nine holes in the inaugural International Series England.

Madappa, who shot 3-under 68 in the first round, added four birdies against one bogey in his first nine holes as he started the second round on the back nine. At 6-under through 27 holes, he was tied for the lead with Justin Harding (70-66) and Kim Joo Hyung (67-69). Madappa, whose sole Asian Tour win came in India at the Take Solutions Masters in his rookie year 2018, had six birdies against three birdies on the first day for his 68.

That included a run of four birdies in a row on his back nine from 10th to 13th and On the second he again capitalised on the back nine of the course as he had four birdies against one bogey on the 18th. Overall, Madappa had nine birdies on the back nine of the course against one bogey. Among those at T-4 was India's Shiv Kapur, who shot 67 in the first round. After the first round he was T-2 alongside SSP Chawrasia (67).

They were the early starters on second day and finished their second round with 70 and 74. On the second day Kapur added three more birdies on his first nine, the back stretch of the Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, near Newcastle, to get to 7-under and was bogey-free for first 30 holes. He then dropped shots on fourth and eighth and slipped to 5-under but was still strongly placed at T-4th alongside Zimbabwean Scott Vincent among others. Chawrasia (67-74) slipped in the second round with two birdies against five bogeys and was T-24th with a lot of players yet to finish.

Among other Indians who had finished their second round early on the second day were Gaganjeet Bhullar (72-70) and S Chikkrangappa (72-71). Along with Madappa, Kapur and SSP Chawrasia, Bhullar and Chikka also looked certain to make the midway cut after 36 holes. Jeev Milkha, who improved from 74 in first round to 69 in second was just outside the cut line which was projected at 2-over and the Indian legend was placed 3-over. With a lot of players yet to complete he still had a chance to squeeze into the weekend.

Rahil Gangjee (70-77), Aadil Bedi (76-75), Rashid Khan (73-78) and Khalin Joshi (77-77) were certain to miss the cut. The Indians were yet to complete their second round included Ajeetesh Sandhu (73), Karandeep Kochhar (74), Jyoti Randhawa (74), Aman Raj (75) and Veer Ahlawat (78).