Shubhankar Sharma finishes Tied-15 in China Open

Courtesy: Reuters

Beijing: Going on a birdie-spree towards the end, Shubhankar Sharma fired a 5-under 67, his best card of the week, to finish T-15th at the Volvo China Open. The 21-year-old finished at 12-under 276, best among all Indians in the fray. He had six birdies, three of them in last four holes, for a fine finish.

Sharma, who leads the Asian Tour's Habitat for Humanity Rankings is also second behind Masters champion Patrick Reed on the Race to Dubai standings. Alexander Bj?rk became the first Swede to lift the trophy after he closed with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to win by one shot at the Topwin Golf and Country Club.

Among other Indians, Arjun Atwal (71) was T-32nd, Gaganjeet Bhullar, who at one stage rose to T-2 earlier in the week, ended T-63, while Shiv Kapur (71) was T-66 and Khalin Joshi (79) was T-68. "The week has been decent. It's not great but it's decent. I think I could have done a little bit better. I left a few shots out there but that's golf. I am happy that I finished in double digits under-par," said Sharma.

"I was sick earlier but not that sick. It was just slight fever and cold. It's alright. I am happy to be leading the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings now but it's still a long way to go for the season. I just have to keep building on my position. We will see what happens."

The 27-year-old Bjork, who started the round one shot back, rolled in seven birdies for a winning total of 18-under-par 270 and a maiden title on both the European Tour and the Asian Tour. Adrian Otaegui of Spain birdied the last to sign for a second straight 67 and finish in second place. Wallace settled for a 68 following a closing par to share third place with countryman Jordan Smith (64) and Jorge Campillo (67) of Spain on 272.

Ashun Wu produced the shot of the day when his eight-iron tee shot from 158 yards found the bottom of the cup on the par-three 13th hole. It was the third hole-in-one of the week.