Paris, Aug 1 (PTI) Indian duo of Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar faced contrasting fortunes on the weather-hit opening day of Olympic golf competition here on Thursday.

Sharma was 1-under through 17 holes when play was stopped a second time due to the threat of lightning, while Bhullar was hit by a quadruple bogey as he finished four-over 75 to lie T-56th in a field of 60 at Le Golf National.

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Sharma was 3-under through the front nine and it included an eagle, but later he dropped shots. When play resumed after the first stoppage, Sharma was 2-under through 15.

When play resumed again Sharma played two more holes and also dropped a bogey to become 1-under. There was second suspension due to lighting and Sharma had one more hole to play.

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He was Tied-29th alongside Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.

Hideki Matsuyama, who had lost in a seven-man play-off for the bronze medal at Tokyo Games, grabbed the early lead with a bogey free 8-under 63.

Close behind Matsuyama was the defending Olympic champion, Xander Schauffele, who comes in with two Majors in his bag from 2024. Schauffele was 7-under but dropped a bogey on the Par-4 17th and finished at 6-under 75.

Three players -- Tom Kim of Korea, Chile's Joaquim Niemann and Argentine Emilio Grillo -- at tied third with 66 each.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, one of the four Americans in the field, was 4-under, while Spaniard Jon Rahm (67) and seven others were tied sixth with 67. Rory McIlroy (68) was tied 15th.

Sharma, making his Olympic debut, had a par-par start followed by an eagle as he hit two great shots on the Par-5 third. He smashed a 294-yard drive down the centre and drilled his second shot to 24 feet and holed it for an eagle.

A birdie on the Par-4 third from 14 feet after two good shots put him 3-under through five holes. He missed a 13-foot par on the Par-3 eighth, but made up with a 16-foot birdie on the ninth to turn in 3-under.

His driving and putting looked good on a course, where he has played often in the past on the DP World Tour.

However, the Le Golf National, has a way of striking back. Sharma missed the green in regulation on the 10th and took a bogey and on 13th, he took a penalty and paid the price with another bogey.

A birdie on the par-5 14th gave that shot back and he was 2-under when play was stopped.

Things did not pan well for Bhullar, as he began bogey-bogey and that included a penalty drop on the first. The Indian fought back superbly with three birdies in next four holes to get to 1-under.

Then came the crippling quadruple bogey on the Par-4 seventh, where he took a penalty and then a provisional and finally three-putted for a seven. That did considerable damage, though he did pick a birdie on the 10th. He closed with bogeys on the 16th and the 18th for a 75.

The 60 players will all play four rounds at Le Golf National in a stroke play format. In case of any ties for those behind the winner, there will be play-offs for the medals. PTI

(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)