KAEC, Saudi Arabia, Jan 30: Shubhankar Sharma handled the tough and windy conditions in the afternoon well as he returned with a quality two-under 68 in the first round of the Saudi International.
With a very strong blowing through the Royal Greens, running along the Red Sea, Sharma stitched together a round with five birdies and two bogeys for 68 and was Tied-21 alongside his former Asian Tour colleagues Jazz Janewattananond, Scott Hend and Justin Harding.
Another Asian Tour star, Gavin Green shared the lead with Graeme McDowell at six-under 64 with five players including Henrik Stenson tied third at 65.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, playing with co-leader, Green, had an off-day as he began bogey-bogey and added two more on 11thand 18thbut made no birdies. At four-over, Bhullar, T-34 last year, faces an early exit unless he gets a great second round.
Sharma was pleased with the day, said, “I was happy with my play, even though dropping a shot on the last hole (ninth) was disappointing, but the hole was playing difficult.”
“I hit pretty well. Starting on 10th, I had a birdie on difficult 13thwhere I hit it to six feet. On 16thI three-putted which was annoying. On the 18thI hit a wedge to four feet for a birdie.
“On the front nine, on second I had a good birdie from 12 feet but missed a short putt for one more on third. On sixth I missed an up-and-down and ended with a bogey, but had a great birdie on seventh while coming out of the rough. Then on eighth I hit to 15 feet for another birdie to get to three-under. On the tough ninth, I went to the right in the desert and was in a tractor track. I did not have a great shot but hit it to 30 yards short of green to finish with bogey. Still happy with the day and hopefully in calmer conditions tomorrow I can do better.”
Green set the morning pace with 64. Zipping through the front nine in five-under 31, he was six-under through 10. Green overcame two three-putts on the back nine and compensated with birdies on 16 and 17.
In tough afternoon winds, only 2010 US Open champion McDowell, came in with a low round. His 64 included four straight birdies from thee second and another three from 16th. He had one other birdie and a double bogey on Par-3 11th.
Playing with McDowell, American Phil Mickelson was two-over for front nine. Then he had had an amazing back nine with seven birdies, besides one par and one bogey.
Green was so happy that he was willing to forget the two disappointing three-putts on the back nine. The 26-year-old, said, “I played solid. Really a few mistakes here and there, which is pretty normal. A couple of pretty big par saves, and a couple of mistakes, a couple of three-putts, which was tough to take in because I was playing well and solid.
“(Still) I forgot those mistakes and got back birdies on 16 and 17. On 18 had a nasty little lipout but it is what it is.” He had some nice saves, too.
In the morning two Swedes, Stenson and Sebastian Soderberg, who shot to fame by playing the final round in Dubai in one hour 37 minutes, carded 65 each, as did Spain’s Adri Arnaus. Jhonattan Vegas and Victor Perez joined them in the evening at 65.
See also
Gavin to the fore at the Royal Greens in Saudi International
Sharma, Bhullar tee off with world-class field in the final leg of Middle East swing in Saudi
