By Rahul Banerji
Shubhankar Sharma secured his second top-10 finish of the season on the European Tour with a tied ninth placing in the Cazoo Classic near London on Sunday.
Across the Atlantic, Anirban Lahiri too brought in a solid performance at the Wyndham Championship to seal a maiden berth in the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs that get underway in New Jersey later this week.
At the London Golf Club in Ash, Kent, Sharma carded his second successive 4-under par 68 that gave him a share of ninth place alongside three others on Sunday.
His 11-under 277 was built on rounds of 71, 71, 68 and 68 and the final day saw him sink four early birdies that even saw him in title contention briefly.
Dropping back
The back nine, however, kept him from challenging further and he was five shots behind maiden European Tour winner Calum Hill of Scotland, who held his neve on the testing back nine to open an unbridgeable lead.
Last week, Sharma finished in a share of 16th place in the Hero Open at St Andrews. He climbs to in the Race to Dubai list with the top 128 players retaining their card for the 2022 season.
In calendar 2021, Sharma has clocked 11 cuts and two top-10 finishes from 20 events played.
According to the European Tour’s website, Hill was in the lead group for the second time in as many weeks after the Hero Open.
After nine holes, Hill was two down on the lead but a 3-under 33 on his way back to the clubhouse gave him a one-shot cushion over Alexander Levy of France at the end.
Four players tied for third including England’s Richard Bland, who won the British Masters back in May for his maiden European Tour title in 19 years of trying
Lahiri keeps his head
At the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lahiri survived a roller-coaster round on Sunday to finish in a tie for 46th place at the Wyndham Championship, the only PGA Tour title won by an Indian.
Eleven years ago Arjun Atwal had rounds of 61, 67, 65 and 67 to finish one shot ahead of the field for the biggest professional win by an Indian golfer.
The finish took Lahiri close to the million mark in season’s earnings, and sealed his FedEx Cup berth after he had made sure of his PGA Tour card before heading to Tokyo for the Olympics.
Tweeted the elated golfer, into his first crack at the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs, “How’s the josh? #fedexcup #playoffs“.
Lahiri (67-68-67-70) sank birdies in his final two holes after three bogeys and two birdies in his opening round, and a fourth dropped shots that took his card to level par for the day and 7-under 273 overall.
In the ongoing wraparound PGA Tour season, the 34-year-old has recorded three top-10s and 11 made cuts from 21 starts that includes a top-three at the Barbasol Championship in July.
His next start will be at the $9.5 million Northern Trust in New Jersey that tees off on Thursday (August 19), The top 70 then go through to the $9,5 million BMW Championship.
The top 30 then go through to the Tour Championship, all part of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
At the top of the Wyndham leader-board, Korea’s Si Woo Kim came agonisingly close to a second victory of the season as he led five other Asian stars into the Playoffs.
Starting the day six shots off the lead, the 26-year-old Kim fired a closing 6-under 64 to join a six-way playoff which American Kevin Kisner won following a birdie on the second extra hole.
Also read: Lahiri into Wyndham weekend; Sharma well placed at Cazoo Classic
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