A pair of good friends enter the weekend at the 2025 India Championship occupying the top two spots on the leaderboard. Tommy Fleetwood leap-frogged Shane Lowry Friday at Delhi Golf Club thanks to a sensational second-round 64 to command the solo lead at 12 under, one clear of the Irishman and American Brian Harman.
“It’s just such a unique challenge for all of us,” Fleetwood said. “I haven’t hit more than a 5-wood. The one hole where I hit more is 18, but you get to that and you’re like, ‘well, I haven’t hit one, and I don’t really feel that comfortable with it.’ It’s such a unique challenge, and the greens are firming out a little bit and the pins have been tricky.
“It’s been very, very enjoyable. It’s a test of patience when you’re not quite on it because like it’s one of those courses, you get a few of them where you feel — if you hit it good off the tee, you’re going to have some short irons and wedges and feel like you’ve always got a chance to get it wrong. It’s such a waiting game. You’ve got to be very patient. It’s been a great test.”
Paired with Lowry and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald for the second straight day, the Englishman jumped out of the blocks with three birdies across his first six holes. After a round that saw him card a couple of bogeys, Fleetwood could do no wrong on Friday.
He tacked on birdies on Nos. 17-18 — his eighth and ninth holes of the morning — and another on the par-5 1st to successfully bowl a turkey around the turn. When he arrived at his last, he found himself at 11 under among a cohorts of leaders and added one more circle to his scorecard for good measure and for the outright lead heading into the weekend.
Lowry, meanwhile, continued with his steady hand alongside Fleetwood. While the scoring dried up relative to his opening 64, the Ryder Cup hero did enough to keep his peer in view thanks to a second-round 69. Lowry scattered four birdies across his scorecard against his lone bogey of the week on the par-5 18th where he missed the green with wedge in hand from the middle of the fairway.
“I think you need to play this golf course the way you see it,” Lowry said. “There’s a lot of holes where you’re not hitting much off the tee and you’re trying to get it in play and that’s why I think it suits me. There’s a lot of mid-irons out there which a strength of my game. Play to my strengths this week, and hopefully I can be dangerous this weekend.”
Another former Champion Golfer of the Year in Harman has been humming as well through 36 holes. Admitting to some rust due to his lack of play since the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup finale, the left hander looked the part in the second round and vaulted himself into contention with a 7-under 65.
Harman’s lone mistake came when he lost his golf ball off the 13th tee, but he was able to recover and only drop a single stroke to the field. He brushed the loose swing off quickly and went onto play his next seven holes in 5-under fashion.
“I’ve heard it called a second shot golf course but the tee shots are tough,” Harman said. “I feel like it’s a lot. It’s a little bit like an Open. You have to fit some shots into some places, just kind of awkward. I’m striking it pretty well. Hit some irons in there pretty close. Saved par when I had to. When I hit it in the trees, I didn’t make any big scores.”
Harman leads the American contingent in the field as the three notable players to represent the red, white and blue are all positioned inside the top 10 through two rounds. Ben Griffin followed up his first-round 68 with another in Round 2 while Michael Kim did the same. The dueling 68s from both players have them only four strokes off Fleetwood’s pace at 8 under and in a tie for seventh-place.
Griffin did his work while sharing the fairways with Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy. Coincidentally, that is where Hovland found himself the entirety of the day as the Norwegian split all 14 fairways en route to a bogey-free 67 and a spot inside the top 20 at 6 under — the same total McIlroy also settled on.
The Masters champion matched his 69 on Thursday with another on Friday after getting off to another precarious start. A bogey on the par-5 opener set the tone for the afternoon as he signed for three bogeys for the second straight day including squares on Nos. 11-12 again.
McIlroy was able to claw his way back into this championship late, however, thanks to four birdies in his closing six holes.
“Today I just missed too many shots on the wrong side and just having to scramble, and it’s pretty stressful trying to play from there,” McIlroy said. “Just a little smarter and just tidy everything up a little bit. As you said it’s probably easier said than done, but that’s what I’m going to try to do over the weekend.”