Shubhankar Sharma’s streak of 11 par or better rounds ended in the first round of the Joburg Open, a tournament he won in December 2017 and which is being held for the first since then.
Sharma starting from the 10th, hit disaster early in his round and never recovered from it.
A bogey on his second hole, the 11th of the course, was followed by a quadruple bogey on Par-5 12th, which was his third hole and he was suddenly 5-over after three holes.
He birdied 14th, bogeyed 16th and picked a birdie and bogey each on his second nine and finished at 5-over 76. He now faces an uphill task of making the cut as he lies 146th in a field of 156.
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South African Wilco Nienaber and Shaun Norris sat on the top of the leader board after a morning of low scoring on day one. The two home golfers fired an eagle in their opening 63s, with Norris adding six birdies - including three in a row from the third - in a flawless first round that started at the tenth tee.
Nienaber, meanwhile, made the most of his immense power as he carded an eagle, nine birdies and three bogeys to jump to eight under par.
Welshman Rhys Enoch and Brazilian Adilson da Silva were the co-leaders’ nearest challengers on six under following their opening 65s.
Nienaber, who won the 2019 South African Amateur Championship before turning professional last year, is playing in his 11th European Tour event since the restart in July.
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