Shubhankar Sharma and Matt Wallace will share the lead heading into the final round of the Hero Indian Open after a day when DLF Golf and Country Club truly bared its teeth in New Delhi.
Emiliano Grillo had entered round three four shots ahead but he ended it two behind after a 78 that was indicative of the scoring on a day when just nine players fired under-par rounds.
England’s Wallace was one of those with a 70 and local hero Sharma joined him at seven under after a level par 72.
Scot Stephen Gallacher produced the round of the day with a 67 to sit a shot off the lead, one ahead of Argentinian Grillo, England’s Andrew Johnston and Austrian Matthias Schwab.
Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Sharma was five over after nine holes on Thursday but will have a vociferous home support behind him as he goes in search of a third win of the season on Sunday.
‘I’m just looking forward to playing out there again,’ he said. ‘I just want to have fun. It’s the second week in the row I’m in the leading group. I’m going to draw from my experiences last week. I know it’s going to be a battle out there tomorrow and I’ll be ready for it.
‘I kept telling my caddie that this is our home course, you can’t overpower this course. So, I told myself, just hang in there. I will hit a few bad shots and I understand that it’s all part of the game. You just have to stay patient.’
Grillo’s bogeys on the 1st, 2nd and 4th left the door open for the chasing pack and Johnston was the first to join him on top, chipping in for eagle on the 4th.
Wallace had chipped in for birdie on the 2nd and, after a dropped shot on the 3rd, he took advantage of the 4th and hit an excellent tee-shot into the 5th to get within a shot of the lead.
Sharma was also stalking and, while he needed a chip-in to save par on the 2nd, he holed a monster putt on the 5th. A three-putt brought a bogey on the next but a stunning approach to a tight pin on the 7th and a birdie on the 8th kept him right in the hunt.
Johnston found water on the 8th to leave Grillo back in the lead but Wallace drove the 9th green with an iron and then holed a brilliant double-breaker for an eagle and a one-shot lead.
Grillo got up and down from the side of the 9th green to join the lead once more and Sharma took an aggressive approach to the 10th and made it a three-way tie from seven feet.
Sharma found the nasty stuff off the 11th tee and dropped a shot after failing to get out, while a Wallace bogey on the 13th again had Grillo in the solo lead.
The 25-year-old then double-bogeyed the 13th after going over the green, repeated the trick on the next after hitting a poor chip and then bogeyed the 15th to fall further back.
Wallace made an excellent par save on the 14th, holed a 15-footer on the next to lead but then gave the shot straight back on the 16th as Gallacher’s 67 began to look very valuable indeed.
Another Wallace bogey followed on the 17th but Sharma put his second on the same hole into big trouble and a drop led to a double-bogey before a huge drive at the last set up a closing birdie.
Gallacher birdied the 4th and, while he gave the shot back on the 7th, an eagle on the par-five 8th saw him turn in 34. A birdie on the 13th was followed by a dropped shot on the next but a big finish with gains on the 15th, 17th and 18th saw him post the lowest round of the day.
Grillo birdied the last to keep his hopes alive while Johnston bogeyed the 15th and 17th in a 73.
Credit: European Tour
