Nairobi, Kenya, March 4: Shubhankar Sharma got off to a flying start with a bogey free 6-under 66 in the opening round of the Magical Kenya Open. Sharma, who finished second at the Rolex Series Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, had three birdies on either side of the Muthaiga Golf Club on the DP World Tour.
Sharma, who was tied for second with American Johannes Veerman, was one shot behind sole leader, Daniel Gavins of England, who had nine birdies against two bogeys.
Sharma chipped in at the first for a birdie and made three in a row from the eighth before hitting a beautiful shot to seven feet from the rough at the 14th. His tee-shot on the 18th was not ideal but he got up and down from a greenside bunker for a sixth birdie of the day and a share of second.
Taking time off between a series of events and re-energising himself during the season, has been Sharma’s new game plan apart from working on his golf. Sharna, playing alongside Justin Harding and Adrian Meronk, was thrilled with his start and added that being bogey free was an added bonus. He said, “I am really happy, I played really well, didn’t drop a shot which was bonus. I made some good par putts and to make that birdie on the 18th was especially satisfying.
“For me, I’ve changed a lot with my thinking from two years ago. Two years ago I was younger and wanted to play everything. I would play seven weeks in a row if I could.
“Now, if I’m playing well I understand that I need to conserve my energy. I don’t feel like I want to stay on the road all the time so a few weeks and going home really helps. I’m refreshed this week, I’ve had a few weeks off and you can see that in the first round, it’s been a good day.
“It (the course) offers you a lot of risk and reward holes, a lot of holes where you can take driver on and probably have a wedge in. It tempts you in a lot of places but you’ve got to play to your strengths and my strength is my iron play and a lot of the holes where I felt like I could have hit driver, I laid up with two irons and four irons and I think that strategy worked really well. I hope to do that for the next few days.”
Gavins, was over par after five holes but he made six birdies in seven holes from the 16th and added two more for a 64 that left him at seven under. Right behind him were Sharma and Veerman, who in turn were chased by Scot Ewen Ferguson and England’s Lee Slattery,
