‘Anything is possible’ – Sharma dreams of upset PGA Tour win
Aphibarnrat another top challenger from Asia returns
Miami Heat forward Justise Winslow (right), drives the ball against Orlando Magic center Mohamed Bamba in the
fourth quarter of a preseason NBA basketball game in Miami on Oct 8. (AP) KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9, (AFP): India’s Shubhankar Sharma said he was hoping to upset the odds at this week’s CIMB Classic as he hunts the Asian merit crown along with his PGA Tour card.
Sharma won February’s Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and he returns to the Malaysian Asia and I am so much more comfortable in the conditions here. If I just play well in these three events, have consistent finishes, I feel like I’ll get off to a very good start towards securing my PGA Tour card and it will obviously help my world ranking.
“We have a really good chance here and if I play well, in golf, anything is possible. I feel like I can win on a given day when I’m playing really well. I just want to get back to the same level that I was at the start of the year and then things will fall into place.”
Two-time champion and former world number one Justin Thomas, and fellow Ryder Cup player Paul Casey, headline the $7 million tournament along with defending titleholder Pat Perez.
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat is another top challenger from Asia, after winning the 2013 Malaysian Open on the same TPC Kuala Lumpur course – and he now returns after earning a full PGA Tour card for th coming season.
“When I was a kid, my goal was to be a part of the PGA Tour. It’s the biggest tour in the world,” the 29-year-old said.
“Twenty years later, I hold a Tour card. I just can’t explain how it feels, but it is such a good moment for me to play my first PGA Tour event as a member in Asia.”
Sharma and Kiradech are bracketed in the same flight for the first two rounds of the tournament, starting Thursday, along with South Korea’s Korea’s Byeong Hun-an. two years’ time.
“I would say a three times major champion, clearly a European legend, for me Padraig is the frontrunner,” Rose, who reached world number one this year and is now second in the rankings, told Sky Sports television on Tuesday.
“And then you’ve got (Lee) Westwood. It’s interesting when you try to project out who the possible captains are for the next 10 Ryder Cups.”
Former world number one Westwood, 45, was also one of the five European vice-captains this year. The Englishman has said he would like to captain Europe in Italy in 2022 when Rome hosts the event.
Harrington told Irish national radio station RTE last week that he wanted to be a Ryder Cup captain at some stage.
Still playing, the 47-year-old narrowly missed out on his first European Tour title at the Czech Masters last month, where his second-place finish was his best placing in almost a year.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, a member of the victorious team in Paris and winner of four majors, has also backed Harrington, who won back-to-back British Opens in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship also in 2008.
“I’ve always thought Padraig would be a good captain in the United States. He’s won a lot of golf tournaments over there, he’s won a PGA Championship,” McIlroy said last week.
“I think the continuity in the European camp having all these vicecaptains this year and preparing for captaincy down the road has been a huge foundation of why we’ve been so good.”