Grant Forrest leads Scottish charge in Hero Open, Shubhankar Sharma nine strokes back

Grant Forrest produced a sensational 62 in the third round of the Hero Open. Gaganjeet Bhullar posted 68 while Shubhankar Sharma made 73

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Grant Forrest - European Tour - Getty Images

08 August 2021: Scotsmen Grant Forrest and Calum Hill share the lead ahead of the final round of the Hero Open, with compatriot David Law trailing by just two strokes at Fairmont St Andrews. Shubhankar Sharma slipped out of the top ten after posting 73 in the third round. Gaganjeet Bhullar played well for a second day running, shooting 68 to follow his 67 in the second round to reach the weekend.

SSP Chawrasia, who stormed into the weekend on a stellar 67, went down the order with a 75 on Saturday. As already reported, Shiv Kapur and Ajeetesh Sandhu missed out on the weekend action.

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Hero MotoCorp supports Indian golf

Forrest set the clubhouse target of 18 under par after a stunning ten under par 62, which included 11 birdies despite tricky conditions on Scotland’s east coast. He was joined on that number by Calum Hill, who carded a five under par round of 67.

“It was one of those days – bogey start as well and you’re thinking it’s not an ideal start. The first couple of days I played nicely but couldn’t get anything going and didn’t really make a putt. Today I changed my putting grip and I made pretty much everything. I think Lucas’s (Bjerregaard) putter from yesterday might have rubbed off on me a little bit,” said Forrest.

“I just felt I wasn’t hitting putts solidly and I went back to left over right, which I’ve done in the past so it’s not something new. It feels natural. I hit loads of really good putts today. It’s tough making putts in that wind, you need a little bit of luck and I got that. I’m delighted.

“I’ve been playing better tee to green since Germany onwards. I had a good week at the Irish Open and then last week I didn’t really play poorly I just didn’t score and ended up missing the cut. I’ve been feeling confident in my game so I’m just trusting that and trusting the good scores will come along.”

They will be joined in the final group by Spaniard Santiago Tarrio, who leads the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings after two victories on the developmental Tour within the last nine weeks. Tarrio matched Hill’s round of 67 for a 17 under par total.

Law carded one of the few bogey free rounds of the day, a six under par 66 to share fourth with 36-hole leader Lucas Bjerregaard. Since his bogey on the 11th hole of his first round, Law hasn’t dropped a shot on the 43 holes since.

Forrest, Hill and Law are bidding to become the first Scottish winner on home soil since Paul Lawrie won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2012. Bjerregaard, meanwhile, has previously tasted success in St Andrews, winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2018.