Published July 17, 2008 on March 10, 2018

Sharma and Wallace Battle to a Share of the Lead in India

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Local favourite Shubhankar Sharma and Englishman Matt Wallace share the lead going into round four of the Hero Indian Open following a tough day at DLF Golf and Country Club.

“It was very windy today. The first two days were surprisingly calm. The course played really tough and I’m very happy with a 72. It was a mixed bag as everything happened. I holed out at the second, made a few good birdies and got a bad bounce on the 17^th.

“I’m very pleased with the birdie at the last, which allowed me to grab a share of the lead. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

“I kept telling my caddie that this is our home course. You can’t overpower this course. So, I told myself, just hang in there. I will hit a few bad shots and I understand that it’s all part of the game. You just have to stay patient.

“I’m just looking forward to playing out there again. I just want to have fun. It’s the second week in the row I’m in the leading group. I’m going to draw from my experiences last week. I know it’s going to be a battle out there tomorrow and I’ll be ready for it,” said Sharma.

Emiliano Grillo was four shots ahead at the start of the day in Delhi, but bogeys on the first, second and fourth hole opened the door to the chasing pack, and the lead changed hands a number of times throughout the day. The Argentinian ended up two shots off the leading pair after a 78 that reflected the scoring on a day when just nine players recorded under par rounds.

Wallace was one of those with a round of 70 taking him to seven under par, aided by a brilliant eagle on the ninth which had taken him into the solo lead.

 “It was hard. I played really nice and I just said as we walked off, the bogeys I made I hit kind of good shots. That 17^th hole was brutal today. I mean, we all played it differently and managed to find ourselves in the same position.

“I hit lob wedge in there and couldn’t hold the green, so yeah it was tough. The wind was gusting around in different directions but I’m pretty happy with my score.

“Every hole is a test. Like I said yesterday, every hole is a double bogey waiting to happen. I just took every hole as it came and played it as well as possible. That eagle on nine was probably the highlight of my week – and year – so far.

“I’m very happy. There are some brilliant players up there. You know there is going to be a charge tomorrow and someone is going to play well. I just have to go out there and try to execute like I did today and see how it goes,” said Wallace.

Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Sharma joined him at the summit with a level par level par round of 72, recovering from a double bogey on the 17^th with a birdie on the last.

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher produced the round of the day with a 67 to sit a shot off the lead on six under par, one ahead of Grillo, England’s Andrew Johnston and Austrian Matthias Schwab – whose 68 was the only bogey-free round of the week so far.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal and Sihwan Kim of the USA are one shot further back at four under par, with England’s Aaron Rai, Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal and Paul Peterson of the USA at three under.

Leading scores after round 3

209 – Matt WALLACE (ENG) 69-70-70, Shubhankar SHARMA (IND) 73-64-72.

210 – Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 72-71-67.

211 – Matthias SCHWAB (AUT) 71-72-68, Andrew JOHNSTON (ENG) 72-66-73, Emiliano GRILLO (ARG) 65-68-78.

212 – Sihwan KIM (USA) 70-70-72, Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP) 67-71-74.

213 – Aaron RAI (ENG) 71-73-69, Ricardo GOUVEIA (POR) 69-73-71, Paul PETERSON (USA) 67-73-73.

214 – Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 74-68-72, Joost LUITEN (NED) 71-69-74.

215 – Clement SORDET (FRA) 72-72-71, Steven BROWN (ENG) 74-71-70, Jinho CHOI (KOR) 72-71-72, Jamie DONALDSON (WAL) 71-70-74, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 69-70-76.

216 – Anthony WALL (ENG) 71-73-72, Jarin TODD (USA) 72-74-70, Sebastien GROS (FRA) 69-71-76.

217 – CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71-71-75, Gavin GREEN (MAS) 69-73-75, Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 74-66-77, Danthai BOONMA (THA) 71-76-70.

218 – Gregory HAVRET (FRA) 73-72-73, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 68-76-74, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 69-71-78, Jens DANTORP (SWE) 69-70-79.