Eagleton - The Golf Resort, Bengaluru, 18-02-2016

Shubhankar Sharma in the driver's seat; Shoots day's best 64 to go three ahead

Anura Rohana next best after a round of 66

Shubhankar Sharma's whirlwind eight-under-64, the day's best, moved him into a three-shot lead in round three of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton - The Golf Resort. The professional from the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, sits atop the leaderboard at 17-under-199 while Sri Lankan Anura Rohana leads the chasing pack at 14-under-202.

Teenager Shubhankar Sharma (65-70-64) set up a launch pad for the pursuit of his second title by sprinkling his penultimate round with an eagle and seven birdies against a lone bogey. The 19-year-old, lying three off the lead in fifth place after round three, started hitting the right notes from the fifth hole onwards on a day that witnessed gusty conditions once again.

The Asian Tour rookie breezed to four-under for the day through 10 holes, courtesy three conversions from 10 to 20 feet. Sharma, who suffered a playoff loss to local favourite Chikkarangappa in his last tournament at Eagleton, just over three months back, dropped his only bogey on the 14th after a three-putt. 

Shubhankar then had an inspiring run, an eagle followed by three birdies, on the last four holes. He had two 12-feet conversions on the final stretch and also drove the green on the 17th where his eagle putt lipped out.

Shubhankar said, “My putter was hot all day so I didn’t worry too much about the three-putt on the 14th. At that stage, I told myself to look for two or three more birdies on the last four so that I could get to a total of around 14 or 15-under. This is now my joint best score at Eagleton. The round is also special since I was up against the strong winds from the outset. It wasn’t easy out there today.

“I did well on the par-5s picking up an eagle and two birdies. I also holed some crucial par putts on the front-nine. I’ll now need to carry my hitting and putting form into the final day. I’ll also have to look for birdies to keep the pressure on since there could be a serious challenge posed by the likes of Anura, Mukesh and Sujjan. The par-5s offer scoring opportunities and therefore will be crucial once again. I’ll play it like any other round and just have fun.”

Anura Rohana (68-68-66), who was overnight tied sixth, brought in a spectacular 66 to position himself as the prime challenger to Shubhankar in the final round. His card featured seven birdies and a bogey and included three conversions from 10 to 15 feet.

Rohana said, “I’ve been striking it much better this week compared to the last event. I missed just two greens today and the putts rolled in for me. Importantly, I had fewer errors than the last two rounds. Shubhankar is well-placed and will not be easy to catch up with while Mukesh can never be counted out.”

Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh slipped from second to tied third at 13-under-203 as a result of his third round of 70. Sujjan was contending for the lead having been three-under for the day through 12 holes. However, his drive on the 13th hit a tree and fell into the hazard, thereby pegging him back with a double-bogey. 

Sujjan, a winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), recovered a stroke with a long birdie putt on 15 to close the day four shots behind the leader.

“I hit 16 greens in the howling wind. I couldn’t have asked for more. But there’s a lot of catching up to do in the final round,” said Sujjan.

Mukesh Kumar (64-68-71) of Mhow, the leader in the first two rounds, was relegated to tied third along with Sujjan as he carded a 71 on day three. He made two birdies and a bogey.

Khalin Joshi shot a 66 to be the highest-placed Bengalurean at 11-under-205 in tied fifth. He was in a three-way tie for fifth along with Noida’s Vikrant Chopra and Delhi’s Kapil Kumar.

Delhi’s Shamim Khan was eighth at nine-under-207. 

Five players including Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa and Udayan Mane and Mysuru’s Harish K were bunched together in tied ninth at eight-under-208.