Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14-10-2018
Shubhankar Sharma finishes tied 10th at CIMB Classic after last round of 72; It's his second top-10 on the PGA Tour
There was heartbreak for joint overnight leader Shubhankar Sharma of India on the final day of the US$7 million CIMB Classic.
Shubhankar (67-64-66-72), the overnight joint leader, who was aiming to become only the second Indian to win on the PGA TOUR, had to settle for tied 10th place following an even-par-72 in his final round. Sharma ended up with a total score of 19-under-269.
Australian Marc Leishman secured a stunning victory after posting a final round of seven-under-65.
With a winning total of 26-under-262, Leishman dominated the event with a five-shot victory over Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66) and Americans Chesson Hadley (66) and Bronson Burgoon (68).
Shubhankar Sharma shot his highest score of the week, a 72, in the last round. He shot two bogeys and one birdie over the first six holes before holing four straight birdies from the seventh hole. His momentum stopped when he hit his tee shot into the water on the par-three 11th hole which resulted in a bogey.
Shubhankar has now extended his lead on the Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Standings. He currently has a lead of US$134,094 over Korea’s Sanghyun Park.
Shubhankar said, "My start was not as good, but I came back really strong. I made four birdies in a row and I was really happy with the way I was playing and I knew I had a chance. We had to wait, there was some wait on the 11th hole and I was in between clubs so I was trying to hit a soft rescue and that was probably one of the worst swings of the day and that ended up in the water. After that it was just a trend of hitting bad shots.
"Even the next hole after that I hit it in the bunker, I had a relatively easy shot and I duffed it and couldn't make up and down. On the following hole, I was on the fairway, hit a good second shot to the left. So that 11th hole I think killed the momentum for me. A par there would have gone a long way and I probably could have made more birdies after that.
"Great experience. Very, very good to have two top-10s on the PGA TOUR, so that's a good way of looking at it. Also, it pushes me to keep playing well. I feel like I have it in me to win out there on the PGA TOUR and I've given myself two opportunities. Game is in a decent place now. The next two weeks are also big events, so anything is possible in this game. So I'll just try and keep at it and let's see what the next two weeks bring."
Gaganjeet Bhullar's final round of seven-under-65 helped him finish tied 27th at 13-under-275.
Anirban Lahiri finished tied 63rd at four-under-284 while Rahil Gangjee was tied 75th at five-over-293.
Source: Asian Tour
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