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Indian Open: Sharma finds wings on windy day
Impressive with his long putting, the two-time DP World Tour winner finishes T4 on Day 1.
On the eve of the Hero Indian Open, Shubhankar Sharma had gone to considerable lengths to underscore the need to bring out the A game from the first hole to the last at the DLF Golf and Country Club. The Gary Player-designed course, after all, has been variously described from "monster" to "tricky" by the participants in the two days preceding the tee-off.
On Thursday, Sharma pretty much walked the talk, acing the windy conditions, parring the dreaded 16th-18th holes, and ending the day with a brace of delectable birdies to finish tied fourth on the leaderboard with 4-under 68 with compatriot Angad Cheema. At one stage, Sharma was joint second before Finland's Mikko Korhonen hit a birdie, eagle, and a birdie on the front nine to jump to solo third.
Teeing off from the back nine (hole 10) in nippy morning conditions, Sharma parred the first hole before making a bogey on the next. He pulled back with a couple of birdies before bogeying again on the 15th. The 26-year-old did well to end the day without any more mistakes.
"The conditions were benign to begin with but by the time I reached my back nine, the wind picked up. Towards the end, it was gusting which made it difficult to judge the ball, but I played well in those conditions. So, happy with the day," Sharma said.
"It was slightly up and down in the beginning. The back nine is the tougher nine here. Sometimes you don't make too many mistakes here but even the good shots are penalised. I feel that happened to me a couple of times when I made bogeys. I was playing well though and was feeling really good. The scorecard may not really suggest that but in the end, you have to be patient here," Sharma, who owns the course record of 8-under, said.
"The twin birdies on the 12th and 13th holes were much needed after I had bogeyed on 11. That got me back to one under par. After that, I was quite mediocre until I reached the front nine."
Sharma soon turned his middling start around, hitting birdies on four of the front nine holes to break away. Reading the wind well and using his long putts to good effect, the two-time DP World Tour winner steadily climbed up the leaderboard. Birdies on the 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th holes followed as Sharma found a fresh gear in his putting.
"I think I found something in my putting. The ball was starting more on line, so the birdies came. Sixth was a great birdie, seventh was a great par, eighth and ninth were both birdies, so lots of highlights towards the end. I was quite straight off the tee on most occasions except for maybe one place where I went slightly on the left, maybe on the sixth. I think my putting became slightly better on my back 9 (the actual 1-9) which helped," he explained.
Sharma's short game, an aspect he has been working on over the last few years, came together beautifully. The sixth hole birdie was a 12-footer, and the seventh hole par was another 12-foot putt before a 20-foot birdie putt on the ninth ended his day on a high.
"I actually missed my drive towards the left. I was going for the green but was almost 50-60 yards left. Then, from the rough, I hit a very good shot from about 20 feet to finish well. The only thing on my mind was to not make a bogey and finish badly," he said.
Into his tenth year as a pro, Sharma admitted to having added a few more strokes to his game since he last played here in 2019. "Every year I learn more and more about my game, myself, my tendencies, and how I can keep getting better. My game has progressed by leaps and bounds since the last time I played here. I have played all over the world and learned a lot. I have more shots in my arsenal now which always helps, especially on a course like this where you have to bring your 'A' game all the time," he said.
