Shubhankar Sharma shoots decent 70 in opening round of Alfred downhill links championship
Shubhankar Sharma started his Alfred downhill links championship campaign with a modest 2-under 70 at the Old Course in St. Andrews.
The two-time European Tour champion Shubhankar had a rollercoaster kind of first round, in which he made six birdies but shot a triple bogey on the par-3 11th hole and a bogey on par-4 16th hole that vanished his heroics, and he had to settle at the tied-55th position going into the second round.
World No. 19 Tyrell Hatton and three other players shared the lead after the opening round of the €4,439,975 prize money event.
Hatton, who was a part of this year’s Ryder cup team of Europe, made seven birdies and one eagle against an only bogey in his superb splendid round of 8-under 64.
The two among four Adri Arnaus of Spain and China’s Haotong Li both had error-free rounds of 8-under. Nicolas Colsaters of Belgium smashed two eagles, five birdies, and an only bogey to reach the top position.
The 25-year-old Sharma has made sixteen cuts in 26 events this season, with T-8th at the Made in Himmerland being his best finish in the current season of the European Tour.
Though the last month turned out quite good for Sharma, in which he finished T-12th at the Italian Open, T-9th at PGA Championship, and T-27th at the KLM Open.
Shubhankar is currently standing at 78th place in the Race to Dubai Rankings, indicating he will likely retain his card for the 2021-22 season.
After the completion of the last five tournaments of the 2020-21 season, the top-50 players in the Race to Dubai Rankings will be awarded playing rights for the next season.
The other Indian playing in the event, Ajeetesh Sandhu, carded a decent 1-under 71 to be placed tied-79th along with the defending champion Victor Perez.
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