Sensational Shubhankar moves into 2stroke lead
WGC The 21yearold Indian golfer leaves bigger names on his trail on WGC debut
MEXICO CITY: Success has come quickly for Shubhankar Sharma, and the Mexico Championship is no exception.
Sharma hit a 3-wood that landed on the green and settled 2 feet away for an eagle on the opening hole at Chapultepec Golf Club. He finished with three straight birdies for a 5-under 66. And in his first World Golf Championship, he takes a two-shot lead into the weekend.
“I worked all my life to come and play at a high stage like this,” said Sharma, who turned pro when he was 16. “You have to expect great things from yourself if you want to play at a high stage. I just try and not think of anything before I start. I just try and concentrate on the success, and just let things go.”
Sharma overcame a pair of three-putt bogeys early in his round and was at 11-under 131.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia had a 65 and was two shots behind, along with Xander Schauffele (66) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (67).
Sharma’s greatest asset is stable mind, and he has not shown any moments of being overwhelmed.
Even so, there has been a few surreal moments, such as warming up the range before the second round.
Jordan Spieth, the British Open champion and former No. 1 in the world, was hitting balls behind him. And then when Spieth left, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson took his place. It was hard for Sharma not to glance at over his shoulder.
“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said.
And then it got better. Sharma had such control over his game that he putted for birdie on every hole except the par-4 eighth, where he escaped from the trees into a bunker, blasted out to 12 feet and saved par. He shot 31 on the back, finishing with a gap wedge he hammered to 10 feet for a final birdie, and he walked off the green to a big ovation.
Russell Knox is the only other player to win a World Golf Championship in his debut, at the 2015 HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
So much more is at stake.
Sharma, the only two-time winner on the European Tour this season who leads the Race to Dubai, is No. 75 in the world. Still in his sights is a chance to move into the top 64 after next week to get into the Dell Match Play in Texas, and he has an outside chance of getting into the Masters.
And to think that just three months ago, he had yet to win anywhere in the world. Then, he shot 61 in the second round on his way to winning the Joburg Open. Last month, he closed with a 62 to win the Malaysian Open.
Now he’s 36 holes away from a World Golf Championship.
“Everything has happened so fast for me,” Sharma said. “In the past four months, my life has totally changed. Obviously, the final destination for me is the PGA Tour. That’s always been my dream. Just playing well here this week will get my closer to my dream.”
And yet he still has a long way to go. Ten players were within four shots of the lead going into the weekend, a group that includes defending champion Dustin Johnson, who holed a wedge from 112 yards for eagle on the ninth hole and shot a 66. He was in the large group at 7-under 135. “My favorite thing about that is I didn’t have to putt,” Johnson said.
The battle to remain relevant in India’s limited overs scheme of things will be foremost on Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav’s minds when India A take on India B in the opening game of the Deodhar Trophy here. Having slipped in the pecking order as far as ODIS are concerned, both Umesh and Shami will like to use the opportunity to stake claim for the third and fourth pacers’ slot in the national team that is still up for grabs, keeping the World Cup in mind. While Umesh was not in the ODI squad during the South Africa tour, the team management preferred Shardul Thakur to Shami during the last ODI.
With Ravichandran Ashwin ruling himself out of the tournament due to a niggle, India A, led by Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne, look like an intimidating outfit with all top domestic and junior cricket performers in their ranks.
KAPOOR LIKELY TO REPLACE VENKATESH
NEWDELHI: Former India off-spinner Ashish Kapoor in all likelihood will make a comeback in the junior national selection panel after chairman Venkatesh Prasad resigned from his post.
It is all but certain that Prasad will be joining Kings XI Punjab as their bowling coach and in order to avoid potential ‘Conflict of Interest’, the former seamer stepped down . The other two members of the panel currently are former UP all-rounder Gyanendra Pandey and former Baroda batsman Rakesh Parikh.