Golf: Shubhankar Sharma finishes seventh at Irish Open

Shubhankar Sharma, who shared the lead at the halfway stage of the Irish Open golf to make a bid for his first DP World Tour title since 2018, ended tied seventh

Kildare: India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who shared the lead at the halfway stage of the Irish Open golf to make a bid for his first DP World Tour title since 2018, ended tied seventh with a final round of 1-under 71 here.

Sharma, who opened the season with a tied seventh-place finish in Abu Dhabi, ended tied eighth at the Open in July, and this is his third Top-10 finish of the season.

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Sharma, who was 13-under after 36 holes, could not produce the magic he showed in the first 36 holes as he carded 75-71 in the final two and finished the week at 11-under.

Yet, the Indian ace, who has been picked by the Indian Golf Union for the Asian Games later this month, has moved to 168th in the world. Sharma’s career-best ranking is 64th.

Sweden’s Vincent Norrman secured his second DP World Tour title in the space of just 56 days as he carded a final round seven under par 65 to triumph at the Irish Open.

Sharma, lying T-4 after the third round, started the final round with a double bogey, his second of the week after the double on the sixth in the third round.
The Indian recovered with birdies on second and fourth and added two more on the 10th and 14th, but failed to get birdies on the Par-5s on 16th and 18th. He also dropped a shot on 17th. There were quite a few missed putts on a day when the weather interrupted the play.

Norrman, who won the Barbasol Championship in the United States in July, started the day six strokes behind the overnight leaders and was well off the pace after pars on his opening six holes.

The 25-year-old made his first birdies of the day on the seventh and ninth holes before play was suspended at The K Club for an hour and a half due to the threat of lightning.

Norrman showed no signs of slowing down after the restart as he birdied four of his next five holes from the 10th. His birdie at the 13th saw him move into a share of the lead for the first time and he then made his seventh gain of the day on the 18th to set the clubhouse target of 14 under par.

Germany’s Hurley Long was also on 14 under par after 12 holes, but consecutive bogeys saw him slip back to 12 under. The 28-year-old gave himself an eagle look at the last, but he left his putt short, handing Norrman his second DP World Tour title.

His win sealed a fortnight of success for Sweden on the DP World Tour as he backed up compatriot Ludvig Åberg’s victory last week at the Omega European Masters.

In a share of third was home favourite Shane Lowry, who was bidding for a second Irish Open crown, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who was runner-up at this event last year, Scotsman Grant Forrest and Thriston Lawrence of South Africa.