Shubhankar fights hard before losing to Garcia
Shubhankar Sharma pushed the reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia to the fullest before losing by a hole in his first match at the WGC–Dell Technologies MatchPlay Championship. Garcia almost joined the ranks with defending champion Dustin Johnson and Rory McIllroy, who lost their opening matches but managed to scrape through on the 18th hole.
Austrian Bernd Wiesberger shocked Johnson 3&1 while Peter Uihlein defeated McIlroy 2&1.
Other big names like Jordan Spieth (beat Charl Schwartzel), Justin Thomas (beat Luke List), Jason Day (beat James Hahn) and Ian Poulter (beat Tommy Fleetwood) won their opening matches. Shubhankar, 21, gave the reigning Masters champion a great fight and in fact led at various stages before being level at the 18th tee.
And then Garcia pulled ahead to win the last hole and the match in his first appearance since becoming a father last month.
Sharma was well received by fans, many of them Indian, and he said, “I played very well and I am very proud of the way I played.
AUSTIN (TEXAS):
Both Sergio and myself made a lot of mistakes out there but then I holed a great birdie putt there on 16 from 15-feet to match Sergio’s birdie and then a good putt for par on 17 (six feet) to save par and send the match down the last.
“It could have gone anyway at the last and I have to congratulate Sergio as he played a fantastic up-and-down for par from the bunker. I just feel like I made a few too many mistakes today and not enough birdies, as I do normally,” Sharma told the website www.GolfbyTourMiss.com
“And while I’m disappointed not to squeeze out the half point, I will go into tomorrow’s round with a lot of confidence having played alongside the Masters champion. I still have a lot more left in me and I am confident I can play better tomorrow, so I’ve gained a lot of confidence today.”
Garcia, a veteran of match play lavished praise on the Indian, saying:“It was a good match and I enjoyed playing alongside Shubhankar.”