24 March 2022: Shubhankar Sharma shot a brilliant 68 on a demanding course in Doha for a share of second place behind Pablo Larrazabal. Shubhankar started with seven straight pars before catching fire ahead of the turn.
The Indian shot four birdies in six holes between the 8th and 13th to send his card soaring up the leaderboard. Birdies at the 16th and 18th moved him to six-under, just two strokes shy off the pace. Shubhankar shot 66.
Pablo Larrazabal took full advantage of the calm morning conditions to post an eight under par round of 64 at Doha Golf Club and open a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Spaniard, who secured his sixth DP World Tour title at the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood a fortnight ago, started on the tenth hole and made the turn in 30, six under par, before adding two more birdies on the way in to set the target at eight under.
That first round total proved to be unassailable and the 38-year-old leads from Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde, Frenchman Romain Langasque, Poland’s Adrian Meronk and Shubhankar Sharma, of India on six under par.
“I played really well. It was quite an early tee off, I don’t remember the last time I teed off at 6:55am so I just tried to stay awake on the back nine, which was my front nine, but I made two quick birdies straight out of the gate and then made another three birdies in the next seven holes to be five under after nine. The front nine here is tougher, I think, compared to the back nine and it got slightly windier so I made a few good par putts and it was good to make that birdie on the eighth and finish with a 66,” said Shubhankar.
“It’s more mental, I think. Technically, I’ve not really changed anything but I’ve just become more process-oriented. I’ve also learned to let go of bad rounds and bad shots. I’ve been playing well for some time now, it started last season, at the end of last season where I had some good finishes and I’ve managed to carry it forward into this season as well.”
Helligkilde, who topped the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings last year, carded four birdies in his final six holes to join that group in a tie for second, with two players – Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Englishman Robert Rock – a shot further back in a tie for sixth place on five under par.
Defending champion Antoine Rozner, who won his second DP World Tour title at Education City Golf Club last year, is among a group of seven players a shot further back in a tie for eighth place.
“I’m very pleased. I played very solid. I missed only a couple of shots. I did an up and down there on the last green which I missed, but happy days. It’s been a couple of nice weeks. I missed the cut last week but I played very solid golf and today we keep doing the job,” said Pablo Larrazabal.
“The conditions are great. When you come to a golf course that they’ve really changed, and they’ve not only changed it for us, they’ve changed for this course for amateur golf. I’m sure the members here enjoy it a lot more and obviously there are a lot more pin positions for us. I think they did a great job and it’s looking magnificent.
“It’s not nice when you have your alarm at 4:00am, but it’s all about going to bed early. I went to bed at 9:00am, so I got my seven hours. The temperature was nice this morning but now it’s boiling. It’s probably 35 or 36 degrees right now, so I kept drinking a lot of water and making birdies.”
