Sharma upset with late bogeys, Koepka in full flow on return from injury

Abu Dhabi, Jan 16: Shubhankar Sharma was left disappointed with two late bogeys after some hard work through the first day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Thursday. Sharma, who termed his three birdies against two bogeys for 71 as ‘mediocre’ said the consolation was that he was still under par.

Sharma was Tied-50thalong some big names like two-time Abu Dhabi winner, Tommy Fleetwood, last week’s Hong Kong Open winner, Wade Ormsby of Australia, the 2016 Masters winner, Danny Willett and Patrick Cantlay of the US.

India’s other player Gaganjeet Bhullar in the field had a forgettable day with a seven-over 79 and will need an exceptional round to make the cut.

Sharma, 23, said, “It was a kind of a mediocre round, but still under par. I drove okay, but the irons were not that good. Also, I did not putt well, missed a few short ones, especially at the end. That’s never a good feeling. I am off in the morning tomorrow, so hopefully I will be fine.”

World No. 1 Brooks Koepka returning to action after an almost three month lay-off due to injury, played as if he was never away. He carded a bogey-free six-under 66. But he was still two shots behind South African Shaun Norrris and Italian Renato Paratore, who carded eight-under 64 each.

Norris, 37, a late bloomer has four wins in Japan and was second on Order of Merit last year. He also has wins on Asian Tour but none on European Tour. He said, “It will be a dream come true to win a tournament or European Tour event, never mind the Rolex Series.”

On playing in Japan, he added, “I got my card in Asia about five years ago and started to play The Asian Tour and won an event which was co-sanctioned with the Japanese Tour. A good friend of mine told me, take a membership up. The Tour is very good and the courses are phenomenal and you’ll learn a lot. Over the last four years, I think overall, my game has grown a lot.”

Sharma, who admitted he did not hit his iron shots very well, was fine at two-under through 14 holes, before a couple of missed putts from inside five feet gave him bogeys and a lot grief. In between there was a sweetener with a 25-foot birdie on the eighth, his 17thhole of the day.

Koepka returning from in jury admitted to feeling sore last night. “I just did some treatment on it. That’s expected. This is a first week I’ve walked 18 holes and I’ve done it three times already. It’s a little tired.”

Koepka also has a new driver he received on Tusday. He drove the ball well and said, “I controlled ball flight and controlled distances really well and that’s what you have to do out here. When they handed it to me we had a long session on Tuesday trying to figure out — we couldn’t get it quite right but we got it dialed in and it worked, so I’m very pleased with it.”

Sergio Garcia was Tied-fifth among a group of six players with five-under 67.

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