Shubhankar Sharma was off to his best start in 2024 with a bogey-free 6-under 66 that placed him tied-seventh at the end of the opening round of the Volvo China Open on Thursday. (More Sports News)
Sharma was three shots behind co-leaders Romain Langasque and Sebastian Soderberg, who produced flawless opening rounds of 63 at Hidden Grace Golf Club.
Om Prakash, the other Indian in the field, was 2-under 70 for the day and tied-51st. Prakash came through to the DP World Tour after topping the PGTI Order of Merit in 2023.
Sharma had four birdies and an eagle on the 11th, which was his second hole as he started from the 10th. After the eagle on the Par-4 11th hole, he had birdies on the 17th and 18th and turned in 4-under. On the second nine, he birdied the fourth and sixth and finished at 6-under.
Sharma was still left with a feeling of having come up short as he parred three of the four Par-5s.
In seven starts this year, Sharma has made the cut in four with T-7 in Singapore as his best and the next best being T-16 at the Rolex Series event, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, which was won by World No. 2 Rory McIlroy.
Om Prakash looked good as he birdied the second, sixth, seventh and the 11th and he was 4-under. But bogeys on the 16th and 17th pulled him back to 2-under.
Frenchman Langasque, who had missed the cut at the ISPS Handa and finished tied-fifth at the Hero Indian Open, showed great form at the Hidden Grace Golf Club.
His putter was hot as he rolled in nine birdies, including a stunning run of seven in a row at the turn to sit at nine under par.
He was joined by Swede Sebastian Soderberg following his own five-hole birdie stretch at the top of the leaderboard.
Home favourite Haotong Li, who won his event in 2016, was the closest challenger at eight under with a blemish-free 64.
Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Czech Gordan Brixi were flawless in their rounds of 65, while Italy's Guido Migliozzi carded eight birdies and a bogey for a share of fourth at seven under.
English pair Paul Waring and Marcus Armitage, South African duo Casey Jarvis and Zander Lombard, France's Clément Sordet, Italian Filippo Celli and Swiss Joel Girrbach were with Sharma at 6-under.
