Hero Open: Golfer Shubhankar Sharma drops shots in tricky conditions

ST.ANDREWS (SCOTLAND): Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma ran into a nightmarish stretch in tricky weather conditions right at the end of his third round, carding an one-over 73 to lie Tied-21st at the Hero Open here.

Sharma, beginning the third round inside Top-10, was 3-under through 15 holes, when he double bogeyed the Par-4 16th and bogeyed the last two holes to fall to 1-over 73 on the east coast of Scotland. It saw him dip to Tied-21 on the leaderboard.

Gaganjeet Bhullar, who made the cut on the line, had five birdies against one bogey for a 68 that helped him atone his first round 76. He now has rounds of 76-67-68 and at 5-under he is Tied-40th. SSP Chawrasia (76-67-75) was Tied-60th.

Scotsmen Grant Forrest and Calum Hill share the lead ahead of the final round by just two strokes at Fairmont St Andrews. Forrest set the clubhouse target of 18 under par after a stunning ten under par 62, which included 11 birdies despite tricky conditions, while Hill carded a five under par round of 67.

They will be joined in the final group by Spaniard Santiago Tarrio, who leads the Challenge Tour's Road to Mallorca Rankings. Tarrio matched Hill's round of 67 for a 17 under par total. David Law carded one of the few bogey free rounds of the day, a six under par 66 to share fourth with 36-hole leader Lucas Bjerregaard.

Forrest, Hill and Law are bidding to become the first Scottish winner on home soil since Paul Lawrie won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2012.