Shubhankar Sharma retains lead despite late bogeys at Kapil Dev Invitational

Hyderabad: Shubhankar Sharma carded an even-par 72 to retain a two-shot lead after the third round of the INR 2-crore Vishwa Samudra presents Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship, powered by NALCO, at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida.

The 30-year-old Chandigarh golfer (68-65-72), who began the day with a four-stroke advantage, mixed five birdies with three bogeys and a double bogey to remain at 11-under-par 205 heading into the final round.

Bengaluru’s Manoj S (70-71-66) and Italy’s Michele Ortolani (72-70-65) emerged as Sharma’s closest challengers at nine-under-par 207.

Manoj climbed from sixth to tied second after carding a bogey-free 66 with six birdies. Ortolani rose from seventh overnight with a blemish-free seven-under-par 65, the joint-lowest score of the day.

Last year’s DP World PGTI Order of Merit champion, Yuvraj Sandhu (71-69-69) of Chandigarh, carded a three-under-par 69 to occupy fourth place at seven-under-par 209.

Sharma began strongly, making four birdies on the front nine before adding another on the 10th. However, three bogeys and a double bogey on the closing stretch reduced his overnight four-stroke lead to two.

“It was an up-and-down day,” Sharma said. “I started strongly and made four birdies on the front nine, including gains on the second, fourth and seventh, before adding another on the 10th.”

Chandigarh’s Brashwarpal Singh (72-65-73) and Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (72-67-71) shared fifth place at six-under-par 210. Joshi, a four-time winner on the DP World PGTI this season, began the week second in the Race to DP World India Championship standings.

Current Race to DP World India Championship leader Saptak Talwar (75-72-72) climbed from tied 31st to tied 25th at three-over-par 219.

The Pro-Am event on Friday was won by the team comprising professional Tapendra Ghai and amateur Prem Duggal, which accumulated 48 Stableford points.