Paris, France, 01-08-2024

Shubhankar Sharma makes a steady start at Paris Olympics, placed tied 29th; Gaganjeet Bhullar in tied 56th

Source: PTI

The Indian duo of Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar produced contrasting performances in a heavily disrupted opening round as the Olympic golf competition kicked off amid thunder and lightening at the Par-71 Le Golf National course in Paris on Thursday.

While Sharma carded a topsy-turvy one-under 70 to lie tied 29th, Bhullar was way down at tied 56th in the 60-strong field after a four-over 75, which included a quadruple bogey.

Sharma was three-under through the front nine and it included an eagle, but he dropped shots after that. When play resumed after the first stoppage, Sharma was two-under through 15.

After he had played two more holes and also dropped a bogey to become one-under, there was second suspension due to lightening.

When played resumed yet again, he parred the last hole for a card of one-under 70. He was Tied-29th alongside Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Keita Nakajima, who won the Hero Indian Open earlier this year.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan grabbed the early lead with a bogey free eight-under 63.

Sharma, making his Olympic debut, had a par start followed by an eagle as he hit two great shots on the Par-five third. He smashed a 294-yard drive down the centre and drilled his second shot to 24 feet and holed it for an eagle.

His driving and putting looked good on a course, where he has played often in the past on the DP World Tour.

Things did not pan out well for Bhullar, as he began bogey-bogey and that included a penalty drop on the first. Bhullar fought back superbly with three birdies in next four holes to get to one-under.

Then came the crippling quadruple bogey on the par-four seventh, where he took a penalty and then a provisional and finally three-putted for a seven.

That did considerable damage, though he did pick a birdie on the 10th. He closed with bogeys on the 16th and the 18th for a 75.

The 60 players will all play four rounds at Le Golf National in a stroke play format. In case of any ties for those behind the winner, there will be play-offs for the medals.