Hyderabad, Apr 16 (PTI) Overnight leader Shubhankar Sharma fired a sizzling eight-under 64 to build a mammoth seven-shot lead after round three of the inaugural Rs 1 crore Boulders Classic here on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Shubhankar (66-66-64), a two-time DP World Tour winner, matched the course record set by Honey Baisoya a day earlier. He is now at 20-under 196 with one round to go at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club.
Sharma’s round featured nine birdies and just one bogey as he took firm control heading into the final day.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (67-70-66), Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (68-69-66), and first-round leader Vishesh Sharma (65-70-68) of Hyderabad were tied second at 13-under 203.
Rashid and Cheema returned matching six-under 66s, while Vishesh carded a four-under 68.
A six-time winner on the DP World PGTI, Shubhankar Sharma is playing his first event on the tour since the Tour Championship in Jamshedpur in December 2021. His last win on the tour came at the McLeod Russel Tour Championship in Kolkata in December 2017.
“I played really solid today — probably hit it the best I have all week. Everything was clicking, and even when I lost a bit of momentum, I bounced back quickly with birdies,” Sharma said.
“It was nice to be hitting it close consistently. You have to get your yardages and wind reads right here, and I felt I did that well.” Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, a former Asian Tour winner and five-time winner on the DP World PGTI, carded his third consecutive four-under 68 to move into fifth place at 12-under 204.
DP World PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar, carded a six-under 66 to move to 11-under 205 and into a tie for sixth, alongside Honey Baisoya, who followed up his course-record 64 with a three-under 69.
Mohd Azhar (67-70-69) was the other Hyderabad-based professional in the top-10 as he occupied tied eighth place at 10-under 206. Yuvraj Sandhu (73-68-73), one of the pre-tournament favourites, was tied-32nd at two-under 214. PTI ATK ATK AH AH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.