Indians at HIO 2017: Shubhankar Sharma placed at even par after Round 1 of the Hero Indian Open 2017

Shubhankar started off his Hero Indian Open campaign on a positive note as he strung together an even par round of 72 at the tough layout of DLF Golf and Country Club. He did well to come out with a 72 on a challenging morning which saw only eight players finish in red figures.

He has been in good form in 2017 with 4 top -15 finishes already to his name on the Asian Tour. However, Shubhankar was a bit short on his tournament preparation coming into the Indian Open as he battled a flu for the days approaching the event.

He did not show any signs of rust today though and played to his strenghts on a day that saw some of the top players in the field struggle. Shubhankar

Here’s what the 20 year old Asian Tour player said after his round:

“I’m quite happy with today’s effort considering I lost a few days of practice in the lead up to the tournament due to illness. I had high fever till Monday which hampered my preparations for the week.”

“Importantly, my birdies on the eighth and ninth, came as a result of some brilliant recoveries. I was in trouble on both occasions having hit poor tee shots. But good second shots followed up by 15 feet birdie conversions on both holes helped me close the round on a high.”

“It’ll not be easy to negotiate the greens here as it’s tough to hit it close to the pins. That’s the biggest challenge at this course.However, I feel I have a slight advantage over the others since this is my home course. I’ve played on this newly-designed course many times. These are not alien conditions for me.”

“I’m also coming into this week with loads of confidence having already posted three top-10s in the Asian Tour season. A top finish this week will really set up the season for me.”