Kilkenny (Ireland), Jun 30 (PTI) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma got off to a great start with six birdies in the opening round but gave away three bogeys to finish at three-under 69 in the Horizon Irish Open here.

While a 69 is a solid start, the three dropped shots must be irking Sharma, who has been holing a lot of birdies for a good part of the season, but also giving many away.

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Sharma was lying T-20, though a lot of players were yet to complete their first round.

Ryan Fox, who started from the 10th, had just two birdies on the back nine on the 10th and 17th.

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On his second nine, the front side of the Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Fox went on a birdie spree with six in all for six-under. He had four in a row from first to fourth and then again on sixth and eighth.

Fox was followed by Frederic Lacroix of France, who shot seven-under 65 with two eagles on the 10th and 17th and four birdies but dropped a shot on Par-4 16th.

The field includes home heroes like the 2019 Open winner Shane Lowry, a big crowd favourite, who carded one-under 71 and Padraig Harrington, a three-time Major champion, who won a fourth on the Champions Tour recently.

Harrington was one-under through nine holes. Scotland's Robert McIntyre was three-under through nine.

Sharma recovered from an early bogey on third with birdies on fifth and seventh. On the back nine, he birdied 10th but dropped a shot on 11th, birdied 13th and 14th before giving away a shot on 16th.

He then birdied 17th and closed with par for 69 with the hope that he would not drop as many in the second round.

Sharma was playing with Stephen Gallacher, who was clearly relishing the Indian's company.

Gallacher won the last Hero Indian Open held back in 2019 and is still waiting to defend that title. He shot 72 with six birdies, four bogeys and a double on a day that was good for scoring.

Three players Lawrence Thriston, Dale Whitnell and Antoine Rozner carded six-under 66 each.

Thriston had five birdies and an eagle against one bogey, while Whitnell and Rozner had six birdies each and no bogeys.

(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)