Golf at Olympics Mixed start for Indians Matsuyama leads with 8-under opening round

Paris, Aug 1 (PTI) Indian duo of Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar faced contrasting fortunes on the weather-hit opening day of Olympic golf competition here on Thursday.
    Sharma was 1-under through 17 holes when play was stopped a second time due to the threat of lightning, while Bhullar was hit by a quadruple bogey as he finished four-over 75 to lie T-56th in a field of 60 at Le Golf National.
    Sharma was 3-under through the front nine and it included an eagle, but later he dropped shots. When play resumed after the first stoppage, Sharma was 2-under through 15.
    When play resumed again Sharma played two more holes and also dropped a bogey to become 1-under. There was second suspension due to lighting and Sharma had one more hole to play.
    He was Tied-29th alongside Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.
    Hideki Matsuyama, who had lost in a seven-man play-off for the bronze medal at Tokyo Games, grabbed the early lead with a bogey free 8-under 63.
    Close behind Matsuyama was the defending Olympic champion, Xander Schauffele, who comes in with two Majors in his bag from 2024. Schauffele was 7-under but dropped a bogey on the Par-4 17th and finished at 6-under 75.
    Three players -- Tom Kim of Korea, Chile’s Joaquim Niemann and Argentine Emilio Grillo -- at tied third with 66 each.
    World number one Scottie Scheffler, one of the four Americans in the field, was 4-under, while Spaniard Jon Rahm (67) and seven others were tied sixth with 67. Rory McIlroy (68) was tied 15th.
    Sharma, making his Olympic debut, had a par-par start followed by an eagle as he hit two great shots on the Par-5 third. He smashed a 294-yard drive down the centre and drilled his second shot to 24 feet and holed it for an eagle.
    A birdie on the Par-4 third from 14 feet after two good shots put him 3-under through five holes. He missed a 13-foot par on the Par-3 eighth, but made up with a 16-foot birdie on the ninth to turn in 3-under.
    His driving and putting looked good on a course, where he has played often in the past on the DP World Tour.
    However, the Le Golf National, has a way of striking back. Sharma missed the green in regulation on the 10th and took a bogey and on 13th, he took a penalty and paid the price with another bogey.
    A birdie on the par-5 14th gave that shot back and he was 2-under when play was stopped.
    Things did not pan well for Bhullar, as he began bogey-bogey and that included a penalty drop on the first. The Indian fought back superbly with three birdies in next four holes to get to 1-under.
    Then came the crippling quadruple bogey on the Par-4 seventh, where he took a penalty and then a provisional and finally three-putted for a seven. That did considerable damage, though he did pick a birdie on the 10th. He closed with bogeys on the 16th and the 18th for a 75.
    The 60 players will all play four rounds at Le Golf National in a stroke play format. In case of any ties for those behind the winner, there will be play-offs for the medals.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)