Meanwhile, Grillo went from hero to zero as he opened with 3 bogeys in the first 4 holes. To add to his woes, winds didn’t help his cause as he dropped successive bogeys on the 13th and 14th before a double bogey on the very next hole reduced his title chances.
The Argentinian is 2 strokes off the leaders, sharing the fourth spot with Englishman Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and Mathias Schwab of Austria.
The trio are followed by Korea’s Sihwan Kim (70-70-72) and Pablo Larrazabal (67-71-74) of Spain. Englishman of Indian origin, Aaron Rai, also a multiple European Challenge Tour winner carded a decent 3-under 69 to remain within 4 strokes of the leaders.
“It was very windy today. The first two days were surprisingly calm. The course played really tough and I’m very happy with a 72. It was a mixed bag as everything happened. I holed out the second, made a few good birdies and got a bad bounce on the 17th. I’m very pleased with the birdie at the last, which allowed me to grab a share of the lead. I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Sharma told reporters later.
Also read: Golf Digest India exclusive – Interview with Shubhankar Sharma
“At the second hole, where I holed out, I had a bad lie in the bunker. It was downslope and I didn’t want to duff it, as I’ll have no chance of an up-and-down if that happened. I caught it just on the ball which went over. The ball just came out three yards in front and it went to the centre of the cup. At the fifth hole, as soon as I hit it, I knew I had a birdie chance.
“I kept telling my caddie that this is our home course. You can’t overpower this course. So, I told myself, just hang in there. I will hit a few bad shots and I understand that it’s all part of the game. You just have to stay patient.” — Shubhankar Sharma (INDIA)
“I was one-under-par after nine holes, which was crucial. I’m happy to be able to come back with birdies on seven and eight. The birdie on 10th was fantastic as the hole was played off the back tees. I have always played the 10th from the front tee box… I made a few bad swings coming in, got a bad bounce on the 17th, but other than that, I think I played pretty solidly.”
With crowd rooting for local hope Shubhankar, a determined performance on Sunday can land the professional his maiden Hero Indian Open trophy, making him the first golfer ever to win three titles in one season on the European Tour. The record of two European Tour crowns in a season rest with veteran Jeev Milkha Singh (2006) and Lahiri (2015).
Englishman Matt Wallace carded a 2-under 70 to share the lead on Day 3 at Hero Indian Open 2018