Sharma clinches 3rd title in style

Panchkula's Shubhankar Sharma bagged his third title of the year in style today with a one-shot victory at the 15th TATA Open 2016 played at the Golmuri Golf Course here.
The 20-year-old posted a tenacious four-under-67 in the final round on Sunday to end up with a total score of 20-under-264 at the Rs. 75 lakh event.
Delhi's Rashid Khan fired a last round of six-under-65 to earn the runners-up position at 19-under-265.
Sharma, who received the winner's cheque worth Rs. 11,25,000, moved up from fourth to first in the Rolex Ranking.
After the penultimate event of the year, Sharma's season earnings now stand at Rs. 36,50,348 giving him a lead of more than Rs. 2.5 lakh over his nearest rival Shamim Khan of Delhi in the Rolex Ranking.

Shamim finished tied third at Golmuri along with Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah at 16-under-268.

Sharma (64-63-70-67), the overnight leader by two shots, had a nervous start to the final round as he missed a chip-putt to bogey the opening hole. However, he got his round back on track with birdies on the second and fourth, making a tough up and down from the bunker on the latter.
Sharma never really looked in trouble thereafter as he went on to make three more birdies on the seventh, 12th and 13thlargely thanks to some quality chip-putts. He finally nailed a two-footer for par on the closing 18th for a well-deserved victory.

Rashid Khan (69-65-66-65) shot a valiant 65 punctuated by seven birdies and a bogey to end up in second place. He threatened to take the match into a playoff by getting within one shot of Sharma but it was not to be as the latter closed out the match with a par on the 18th. Rashid thus moved up from sixth to fourth place in the Rolex Ranking.
Shamim Khan (66) finished tied third at 16-under-268 along with Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (69). Shamim, as a result, conceded his lead in the Rolex Ranking and slipped to second place with season's earnings of Rs. 33,96,458.