Published July 17, 2008 on March 9, 2018

Record Breaking Sharma Chases Down Grillo

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Local hero Shubhankar Sharma put on a sublime display to set the new course record at DLF Golf and Country Club and pile the pressure on leader Emiliano Grillo heading into round three at the Hero Indian Open.

Argentinian Grillo seemed to have put himself into a commanding position at the close of the morning session, recording a four under par round of 68 to get to 11 under par. Although he retains a four-shot lead, a charging Sharma will be hot on his heels when they tee off together after the resumption of round two on Saturday.

Grillo said, “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. When I practiced on Tuesday and played the pro-am on Wednesday, I was telling myself that I’ll be in a good position if I can just shoot under par every day.

“Hopefully, I can keep my form going. I’ve done well over the past two days and I can’t ask for more. Today, I hit some bad putts, but I think I’ll be fine.

 “It was pretty similar to yesterday, although I made a few more birdie putts in round one. Today, I have also hit plenty of fairways and greens. I thought that I played the round very well. Hopefully, I can find my putter a bit more tomorrow, like how it was on day one and with that, I can keep climbing up the leader board.”

 

Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Sharma – who represents DLF Golf and Country Club – posted nine birdies and a solitary bogey in a course record 64 to get to seven under par, bettering Grillo’s record-equalling round of 65 yesterday.

“Today’s round will definitely rank up there as one of my most significant achievements, especially when it is played at this course. This is a tough course and it is not easy to go low here. I’m very happy with the way I played. I’ve shot a few low numbers in my career and this one is right in my top five.

“If you told me I would be seven-under-par going into the weekend after being five-over-par on my opening nine holes (10^th to 18^th) yesterday, I would just have laughed. To be able to bounce back is really important, I knew I was playing well and I had to push myself a little. In the morning, I told myself that I have momentum on my side. I just need to foot on the pedal and keep on going.

“I knew the course record was seven-under-par. To hold the record on my home course would be mean a lot to me. That was why I decided to go for the green (on 18). I’m just going to play the way that I’ve always been playing. I’m just going to have fun. I know I’m playing well and I have nothing to lose,” said Sharma.

Sharma’s surge was all the more remarkable considering he was five over after his first nine holes on Thursday and drew praise from his playing partner, England’s Andrew Johnston, who is one shot back at six under par, alongside Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal.

Johnston said, “It was a good day. Played lovely all day and it looked pretty average compared to my playing partner.

“Shubhankar is great to play with, he’s such a nice bloke. We got on really well. I said next time he’s over in London I’ll take him out to dinner. I can’t believe he’s only 21. The head on him is amazing, and his attitude.

England’s Matt Wallace, South African Keith Horne, Swede Jens Dantorp, and Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand are  in a share of fifth at five under par, a shot clear of a group of eight players including France’s Sébastien Gros, Dutchman Joost Luiten, Scot Marc Warren,  American Paul Peterson and South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang.

Nine players will return to complete round two at 7 am on Saturday after play was stopped due to darkness. With a projected cut of three over par, India’s SSP Chawrasia has missed out on the chance to seal the title for the third consecutive year, with a second round 77 taking his total to seven over par.

Scores after round 2

133 – Emiliano GRILLO (ARG) 65-68.

137 – Shubhankar SHARMA (IND) 73-64.

138 – Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP) 67-71, Andrew JOHNSTON (ENG) 72-66.

139 – Matt WALLACE (ENG) 69-70, Keith HORNE (RSA) 66-73, Jens DANTORP (SWE) 69-70, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 69-70.

140 – Sebastien GROS (FRA) 69-71, Joost LUITEN (NED) 71-69, Marc WARREN (SCO) 68-72, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 69-71, Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 74-66, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 72-68, Paul PETERSON (USA) 67-73, Sihwan KIM (USA) 70-70.

141 – Jamie DONALDSON (WAL) 71-70.

142 – Gavin GREEN (MAS) 69-73, Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 74-68, Thomas BJORN (DEN) 70-72, James MORRISON (ENG) 70-72, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 69-73, CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71-71, Ricardo GOUVEIA (POR) 69-73.

143 – Matthias SCHWAB (AUT) 71-72, Jinho CHOI (KOR) 72-71, Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 71-72, Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 72-71, Edoardo MOLINARI (ITA) 71-72.

144 – Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 68-76, Anthony WALL (ENG) 71-73, Clement SORDET (FRA) 72-72.

145 – Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 72-73, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 72-73, Adrien SADDIER (FRA) 67-78, David GLEESON (AUS) 75-70, Ashley CHESTERS (ENG) 74-71, Steven BROWN (ENG) 74-71, Darren CLARKE (NIR) 72-73, Gregory HAVRET (FRA) 73-72, Yikeun CHANG (KOR) 73-72.