Bhullar lies 27th, Sharma struggles as Reed leads on first day of WGC

SHANGHAI: Gaganjeet Bhullar carded an even par 72 but debutant Shubhankar Sharma crashed to eight-over 80 on the opening day of the WGC-HSBC Champions here on Thursday.

While Bhullar hit three birdies and as many bogeys in his 72, Shubhankar was unable to tame the windy conditions at the Sheshan International Golf Club and ended up with eight bogeys, a double bogey and two birdies.

Bhullar, who is coming off a week’s rest after the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, is lying tied 27th as only a third of the field broke par. Shubhankar, who hit the headlines with his tied 9th finish at his maiden WGC in Mexico, was 77th and last as Eddie Pepperell and Chris Wood withdrew.

Masters champion Patrick Reed fired a brilliant opening 64 in windy conditions as he teed up for the first time since the Ryder Cup. Reed made eight birdies in a bogey-free effort that moved him to eight under, two shots ahead of fellow Americans Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.

Bhullar had three each of birdies and bogeys as he found 78 per cent of the fairways and two third of the greens in regulation. But he needed 30 putts for his round. Sharma struggled with eight bogeys and a double bogey and his birdies came on par-5 second and par-5 18th.

Reed, who was the winner of the 2014 Wgc-cadillac Championship, also has three top-10 to go with his Augusta National triumph this season to sit third in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.

60-MILLION-TO-1 SHOT!

MELBOURNE: An Australian club golfer has defied odds of more than 60-million-to-one to shoot two holes-in-one in a single round on a course in Melbourne, local media reported. Jim Grant said he missed seeing his first ace go in on the 11th at the Green Acres Golf Club in the suburb of Kew because he was chatting with playing partners.

“I hit a lovely 8-iron up and thought the ball was getting close. I turned to the fellas to say ‘this is going to go close’ and they were all jumping up and down,” he told the ABC.