Sharma storms to a 63 for shared lead with Mane in Steel City

By Rahul Banerji

Shubhankar Sharma set the Tata Steel Tour Championship alight with a 9-under par 63 – all nine gains coming on the Golmuri Golf Course – to jump into the shared lead in Jamshedpur on Saturday.

It was Shubhankar’s best ever effort over nine holes and gave him the lead alongside Tokyo Olympian Udayan Mane, who shot a fighting 67 in round three of the Rs. 1.5 crore event.

The year-ending event, being played concurrently at the Beldih and Golmuri courses, could also see Mane emerge as Order of Merit topper as his closest challengers are some distance away.

Sharma (67-71-63) and Mane (68-66-67) were on 15-under 201s, two shots ahead of the chasing pack that included defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-67-69), SSP Chawrasia (63-69-71) and Veer Ahlawat (68-67-68).

While Mane is third on the money list, Ahlawat is currently eighth and also has a shot at the Order of Merit crown.

Shubhankar followed his sedate 71 in round two with a red-hot 63 on Saturday to climb seven places from his overnight tied eighth.

The 25-year-old, a two-time winner on the European Tour, fired two eagles, six birdies and a bogey during his outstanding effort that matched the tournament’s low round earlier shot by SSP on day one.

Quick start

Sharma kick-started his round with birdie-eagle on the first two holes with 12-foot and 25-foot conversions respectively.

Shubhankar then landed within a foot for birdie on six and for his second eagle of the day on nine.

He also had three other birdies during his extraordinary front-nine at Golmuri.

After the turn, Sharma’s round slowed down as he could only add birdie-bogey on the back nine at the Beldih golf course.

Shubhankar said, “I’m really happy as I shot my best score in nine holes ever.

The back nine was a bit of a dampener as I didn’t make any inroads there. But shooting a 63 is great especially on Moving Day.

“The birdie-eagle start gave the impetus to my round which I built upon through the front nine.

“I also started well in Beldih but missed an easy up and down on 12 that took the wind out of my sails a little bit.

“After that it was tough making birdies as the greens in Beldih are smaller and the pin positions were also tougher today.

“I’m looking forward to the last round as I’ll be playing alongside Udayan who is a great friend. I always enjoy playing with him.”

Mane, overnight tied third two shots off the lead, too had a good start to the day as he birdied the first from 10 feet.

Recovery route

He then recovered well from the bunker wall with a chip-putt birdie on four before sinking a 30-footer for birdie on five

Mane dropped a shot on eigh but regained control with a follow-up birdie.

On his back nine at Beldih, he made up more group with a 25-foot eagle conversion on 12 and a birdie and bogey each.

Udayan said later, “It was a fighting round today as I didn’t play my best but managed to claw my way to five-under. I’m pretty happy with where I am now.

“I got off to a good start but was disappointed at not being able to capitalise on the next two par-5s. That’s something I need to work on tomorrow. Nonetheless, I’m happy with how I played the par-3s today.

“One of the things to do in the final round would be to adapt quickly to the second venue. Those who can manage that will have a huge advantage.”

Chasing pack

Gaganjeet Bhullar’s 69 featured an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys while Chawrasia’s 71 included five birdies and four bogeys.

Ahlawat struck an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys during his 68.

Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S., currently second in the PGTI Order of Merit, shot a brilliant 65 to move up 27 places to tied 20^th on 6-under 210.

With a possible top-5 finish in Jamshedpur, Chikka too stands a chance of wrapping up the Order of Merit title.

Current leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh had a solid 67 and climbed to T33 on 3-under 213.

Kochhar continues to be one of the favourites for the Order of Merit title as he is ahead by Rs. 3,55,250 in the money list and not too far behind nearest rival Chikka on the leaderboard.

Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa (70) ended the day in tied 46^th place on 1-under 215.

The two Jamshedpur-based professionals, Karan Taunk (4-over 220) and Kurush Heerjee (13-over 229), were 64^th and T71 respectively.

Also read: SSP stays atop Tata Steel Tour Championship leaderboard