Bhullar, Sharma fritter away early gains; Fitzpatrick leads at 7-under

Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shubhankar Sharma frittered away good starts to end with a modest one-under 71 each in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic, here Thursday.

Tenth tee starters Bhullar and Sharma fell from being three-under and two-under at one stage. They finished the day at Tied-58th while SSP Chawrasia bounced back from being three-over to even par, giving himself a chance of make the cut.

India's fourth player, amateur Rayhan Thomas, missed a whole bunch of putts and then a careless tap for a par turned into a bogey. He had a double on sixth and his only birdie was on 18th and he ended two-over.

Matthew Fitzpatrick was leading with a seven-under 65 and trailing him were eight golfers at 6-under 66, while another nine players, including defending champion, Li Haotong, are 5-under 67 as 89 players shot par or under on a low scoring day.

Two of Asian Tour's biggest stars, Thongchai Jaidee and Scott Hend, were among the six players who were one shot behind the leader Fitzpatrick.

For most part of the day, the leaders stood at 6-under 66 till Fitzpatrick blazed through the back nine with six birdies, four of them on last four holes for a 65.

Sharing the second place with Thongchai and Hend, were Bryson DeChambeau, the highest ranked player in the field this week, the 2017 Masters champion, Sergio Garcia, Matthieu Pavon, Kalle Samooja and Roman Langasque, who had two holes to play.

Sharma, the reigning Asia No. 1, Bhullar brought home cards of one-under 71 each after being way better earlier in the day.

Bhullar was three-under with three birdies in a row after starting from 10th, while Sharma was two-under through 14 before dropping shots on sixth and eighth, his 15th and 17th holes though a birdie on 18th eased the pain.

Sharma said, "I did not hit too well and missed too much. But there is one more day to go."