Shubhankar Sharma has an encouraging week

After a coronavirus induced hiatus from golf, Shubhankar Sharma returned to action in the Celtic Classic this past week. He made fifteen birdies across his four rounds at the Celtic Manor Resort as he battled his own propensity for errors as he swam ashore with a two-under total of 282. It was only enough for a tepid finish near the lower end of the leader board, but Shubhankar can take plenty of positives from scores of 71-70-70-71, working his way to respectable scores in each round.

At the other end of the tournament, Sam Horsfield was in the midst of an imposing final round when weather forced an interruption. The Englishman was 3-under through eight holes when lightning sent golfers indoors. Horsfield is 17-under with ten holes to go, with Thomas Detry and Connor Syme hanging in the neighbourhood at 14-under. John Catlin, Jason Scrivener, Andrew Johnston and Sebastian Soderberg were all a shot further back as the event promised to provide an engaging climax.

On Sunday, Shubhankar was working from one bogey to the next, like he belonged to a clean up crew. Every time he conceded a shot, he fought bravely to regain the loss and he did just that as he shot an even par 71 in the final round.

Shubhankar opened with a bogey on the first hole, but the damage was dealt with when he went past the par-4 fifth hole in three strokes. The second bogey came at the 7th hole. And once again, the 24-year-old did some plumbing on the ninth to address the damage. That ensured that he went past the turn in an even 36 strokes.

A birdie at the 13th was sandwiched between bogeys at the eleventh and fifteenth holes. Eventually, though, Shubhankar ensured good health when he ended the week with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to secure an even card of 71.

The longest bogey free stretch in the Celtic Classic, for the Indian, lasted eleven holes. After making bogeys at the fifth and seventh on Saturday, Shubhankar remained unblemished through the remainder of his third round. He also made three straight birdies from the 10th hole for his 70 in that round.

The pattern has been the story this week for Shubhankar. Mostly good golf being undone through intermittent errors. He will seek to gain from the experience this week as he goes into the Wales Open on Thursday.