Shubhankar Sharma the man to catch after round one fireworks

From a Correspondent

Straffan, County Kildare (Ireland): Shubhankar Sharma produced a brilliant burst of scoring around the turn as he fired a flawless 65 to lead the 2023 Horizon Irish Open by one shot after Thursday’s first round.

The 27-year-old carded an eagle and five birdies and pulled off a series of impressive par saves in pleasant afternoon conditions at The K Club.

Sharma’s seven-under-par total saw him sit one stroke ahead of Thomas Bjørn, Marcel Schneider, Kristian Krogh Johannessen, Jordan Smith and Ross Fisher.

Hurly Long, Julien Brun, Mikael Lindberg, Wu Ashun, Joost Luiten, and Zander Lombard were another shot back on five under 67.

That put them one ahead of home favourites Shane Lowry and Mark Power, who is making his professional debut this week.

Starting from the tenth tee on Thursday afternoon, Sharma opened up with a birdie from close range before keeping his card clean with a 23-foot par putt on the par-three 14th.

The Indian star made back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17 courtesy of putts from around 13 feet before a hole-out eagle at 18 took him to five under and earned €300 for charity through the Birdies for Wishes campaign.

Clean slate

After sandwiching a ten-foot par save between birdies at the second and fourth, Sharma coolly holed two more key par putts on the fifth and sixth to remain one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard.

Sharma gave himself further birdie chances at the seventh and eighth but had to settle for pars there before closing his round with another par on the ninth.

He said: “It was really solid. I hit the ball pretty good.

“I made a lot of putts on the back nine, which was my front nine, and the round kind of got even better when I made that third shot at the 18th. I holed out from 105 yards.

“That got me to five under, and the front nine was solid again, which was my back nine.”

Hot putter

Sharma was pleased with his putting, adding: “I haven’t seen the stats but I’m sure I gained some strokes on the field with my putting. 

“It was one of those days that the hole grew bigger and bigger. Really pleased, yes. I was great off the tee but putter would be number one.”

Dane Bjørn, who won this event in 2006, made a magnificent return from a 10-week injury lay-off as he shot seven birdies before closing his 66 with a bogey on the ninth. 

Englishmen Smith and Fisher also carded seven birdies and a single bogey in their first rounds, while afternoon starters Johannessen and Schneider finished with a flourish to join them on six under.

World Number Two Rory McIlroy kicked off his week with a 69 which featured five birdies to sit on three under alongside defending champion Adrian Meronk. (courtesy europeantour.com)

Also read: Shubhankar records India best at The Open behind winner Harman