Shubhankar Sharma sets course record with 8-under 64 at Indian Open

Out of the 144 players who came into the tournament, 39 of them were Indian golfers. However, after the second round was suspended it is highly unlikely that more than 10 would be able to qualify for the weekend's action. The list of the players who failed to make it to make the cut included the name of two-time defending champion SSP Chawrasia as he followed his 2-over 74 with a 5-over 77.

Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo topped the leaderboard as he produced a four-under 68 to with his course record-equaling seven-under 65 in the opening round and Shubhanakar Sharma is four shots behind from him.

“First of all, I wanted to make the cut. I got off to a good start even though I was just 2-under for the front nine. I knew I had momentum on my side and was playing well. The second shot to the 10th was crucial to my round. I had about 168 yards to the hole and it landed like a feather just about a foot from the pin,” Sharma said in an interview with Indian Express.

After watching Shubhankar’s effort in the WGC-Mexico Championship, his performance in the initial stage of the Indian Open was considered as slow. Five-over after his first nine holes on Thursday, he ended his first round at 1-over par. On the second day of the proceedings, Sharma started playing the way fans have come to expect of him and on the back nine, he finished with a 6-under par 30. He dropped a 30-footer on the par-3 12th and he hit his second shot to eight feet on the next mark for back-to-back birdies.

“I knew I needed a birdie to break the course record and wanted it badly,” he said.

He earned three birdies in the final four holes, including on the 17th and 18th which occurred as the exclamation point on a tremendous day on Shubhankar’s home course.