Shubhankar drops late shots on tough conditions to lie T71 at AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open

Port Louis (Mauritius), Dec 19 (PTI) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma endured a mixed opening round, carding a two-over 74 to be tied 71st after dropping late bogeys at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open here.

Sharma, who finished runner-up in the Q-School to regain status on the DP World Tour, seemed to be coping well with the tricky winds which were accompanied by rain at the highly challenging La Reserve Links, which is hosting the event for the second time.

Sharma was 1-under through 13 holes, when he literally hit a rough patch with a bogey followed by a double bogey to drop three shots in two holes.

Overall Sharma had three birdies, three bogeys, all of which came on Par-5s, and a double bogey on the 16th, where he failed to come out of the rough with his first attempt.

The course kept asking questions and kept demanding skilful play, and the golfers for their part tried to provide answers as best as they could. Only 33 golfers played under par.

South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson rose to the top for the shared clubhouse lead with rounds of five-under-par 67 each.

They are one stroke clear of six players, including 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open champion Dylan Frittelli, who that year beat Arjun Atwal of India in a play-off.

The others in tied third included Herman Loubser, currently second on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit; multiple DP World Tour winners, Frenchman Alexander Levy and South African Brandon Stone, American Ryan Gerard and Spaniard Manuel Elvira. The six-man pack shot 4-under 68 each.

Last week’s winner at Alfred Dunhill Links, Jayden Schaper, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen and South African MJ Daffue had finished their opening round in 69 each. PTI Cor ATK