Madrid, Sep 27 (PTI) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma endured a disappointing start as he carded three-over 74 in the opening round of the 2024 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
Sharma, who opened the round with a double bogey and a bogey on his first two holes on the back nine of the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, dropped one more shot on the Par-4 15th to be 4-over.
He did not drop anymore and picked one sole birdie on the Par-3 third for a 74 on a tough scoring day. He will now need a good low second round to make the cut.
Spaniard Angel Hidalgo delighted the home fans with a six-under-par 65 for a two-shot first-round lead.
The big-hitting Hidalgo demolished the front nine in just 30 strokes and maintained his score despite a late wobble. His nearest challengers were Julien Guerrier, Sepp Straka and Sam Bairstow after rounds of 67, with three-time champion Jon Rahm in the group a further shot back.
Rahm — winner of his home open in 2018, 2019 and 2022, the latter two at this venue — sandwiched birdies at the fourth, eighth and 13th with bogeys at the third and 16th.
The ten-time DP World Tour winner finished in style with a 27-foot birdie putt at the penultimate hole before a perfect drive, chip and putt at the last to sit alongside compatriot Adri Arnaus and China’s Ashun Wu at three under.
Two more Spaniards, amateur Luis Masaveu and Rahm’s Olympic team-mate David Puig, were at two-under alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Jones of New Zealand.
Meanwhile, defending champion Mathieu Pavon was in a large group at one under. PTI Cor ATK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.