Jeju Island (South Korea), Oct 20 (PTI) Shubhankar Sharma blazed through the first nine in 6-under 30 on way to carding an 8-under 64, leapfrogging 45 places to be T-26 by the third round of THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES here on Saturday.

It was the day's best card and saw Sharma zoom from T-71st to T-26.

Sharma, who shot 74-75 on first two days and was 5-over for 36 holes, is now 3-under for 54 holes but as much as 10 shots behind the leader, Brooks Koepka (67).

Koepka, who can become World No. 1 with a win this week, is 13-under 203, while Ian Poulter (68) is tied for second place with second-round leader Scott Piercy (72) with 9-under 207.

The third round sizzler brought a huge smile on Sharma's face.

"Really happy with the way I played today. I knew before starting that I had to go low to have any chance going into the weekend. Even for a good finish I had to go low today.

"I had four birdies in the first five after starting from the tenth. That's always good when you're 4 under after five. Then I made two more on the 17th and the 18th to go out in 6-under. I actually had a great start. Made two-three putts on the front nine (of the course), but still pretty happy with the 8 under."

As for any specific part of the game clicking, Sharma said, "I think everything just kind of turned around for me. Today I was in a better zone today compared to the first two days, I didn't get agitated with myself. I still hit a few bad shots, but I was very, very calm on the course and I think that's what kept me going."

There were six golfers tied for fourth, including Rafa Cabrera Bello (65) and first-round leader Chez Reavie (70). The others were Pat Perez (68), Cameron Smith (67), Jamie Lovemark (68) and Gary Woodland (68).

Current World No. 4 Justin Thomas shot a 71 and is at 1-under, 11 strokes behind Koepka and tied for 43rd.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)