New Delhi, Oct. 18 -- On the eve of the DP World India Championship this Wednesday, Tommy Fleetwood was asked whether competing after ending the torturous wait for a PGA Tour win will make things harder for him now on. Fleetwood took a moment to put his thoughts together and acknowledged that managing one's own expectations is one of the hardest things a sports person ought to do, and that in the week ahead, his biggest battle would be just that. "I've missed out on winning so many times that I always knew that I wasn't going to let one win change anything. My game is still the same," he had said. Three days on, he seems to be doing rather well on that front. Staying in the present, taking it shot by shot, and shooting birdies by the dozen, the 34-year-old Englishman has thrown the gauntlet to the elite field with a sublime error-free round on Friday. The round of 8-under - 12-under for the tournament - placed him on top of the leaderboard in sole lead, one stroke clear of American Brian Harman and overnight leader Shane Lowry from Ireland. Fleetwood birdied on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 18th holes in the back nine before saving shots on the 1st, 4th, and 9th holes. The highlight was a 124-yard approach shot on the closing hole (ninth) that went ramrod straight and landed three feet from the flag. Sharing the lead with USA's Brian Harman at that stage, Fleetwood nosed ahead with a clinical birdie putt and walked off to warm hugs and a rapturous applause. "It's such a unique challenge, and the greens are firming out a little bit and the pins have been tricky. You've got to be very patient," Fleetwood said. The highlight of his play was arguably a chip on the 14th to save par. Having landed smack in the centre of the bunker off his fourth shot, Fleetwood took his time to select his wedge, composed himself, and holed a brilliantly-timed chip. The birdie putt on the par 3 12th wasn't bad either with the world No.5 curling it in almost at a right angle to par. "Towards the end of the round yesterday (Thursday), I felt like my swing was a bit off. I felt like today the swing was in a better place," Fleetwood said. "I hit it in the fairway a lot today and gave myself some chances with irons." The tournament's biggest draw, Rory McIlroy, is at T-17, carding 3-under to be at 6-under for the tournament. The reigning Masters winner had a mixed day, sinking six birdies while also making bogeys on the first, 11th, and 12th holes. "I felt I recovered well (after bogeys) and I scrambled well. On the front nine, I knew I had two par 5s coming up and I thought I could birdie those, get myself back in the tournament, and that's what I did." he said. Among the Indians, Shubhankar Sharma's superb comeback stole the show as he produced a bogey-free 6-under 66 to gain 67 spots and end the day in tied 32nd place as the highest-placed Indian at 4-under. Dhruv Sheoran, Shiv Kapur, and Anirban Lahiri were the next best Indians in T-41 at 3-under while two-time PGTI winner Abhinav Lohan was the fifth and last Indian to make the cut, totalling 2-under to be placed tied 58th. "I got off to a good start on Thursday but made some bad mistakes coming in, but I slept last night and I'm feeling a lot more fresh" Sharma, a two-time winner on the European tour said." "I hit it well today, putting was good too but the mind was clear, and I'm really happy."...