Shubhankar Sharma falters after bright start at Nedbank Golf Challenge
India’s Shubhankar Sharma failed to build on a superb start to finish at two-under 70 in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player on the European Tour in Johannesburg on Thursday. Meanwhile, Diksha Dagar extended her lead at the top of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Starting from the 10th, Sharma was four-under, before he gave away three bogeys and had just one more birdie on the front nine for a card of 70 — finishing the round at tied-17th. Louis Oosthuizen took the lead with a nine-under 65, while Thomas Detry shot 66, while Guido Migliozzi, at 67, sits in third place. South Africans, Ernie Els and Zander Lombard were tied fourth at 68.
In search of her first win on the domestic tour as a professional, Diksha pulled away from the rest of the field with two birdies in the last three holes in the 15th and final Leg at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Carding her second straight one-under 71, she got to two-under 142, opening up a three-shot lead over overnight co-leader Ridhima Dilawari (74). Dilawari, who is looking for her fifth win this year, is one-over 145 for 36 holes, while Vani Kapoor (72) moved into third place at 146, one shot ahead of amateur Pranavi Urs (72) at 147. Amandeep Drall shot three birdies, four bogeys and a double in her 75, and is fifth at 150.
Meanwhile, Tvesa Malik, the second most successful player on the domestic Tour this year with three wins, started off in terrible fashion and never recovered from it. She began with two bogeys and a double-bogey to be four-over through the first three holes. Although Tvesa did not drop any more bogeys and even managed a birdie on the Par-3 13th for a total of 75. Along with her first-round score of 76, she is now tied-sixth alongside P. Supakchaya (73-78) of Thailand. Gauri Karhade (78-76) and Khushi Khanijau (75-80) were eighth and ninth, while Neha Tripathi (76-80) and Siddhi Kapoor (74-82) were tied tenth.
