Who is Shubhankar Sharma? Phil Thought He Was Media!
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The WGC Mexico City final round is the rare limited field event with a deep leaderboard and a wide range of final round storylines. While the list of top players two back of 21-year-old Shubhankar Sharma would be enough to keep things fun, many more lurk should the leader falter.
As for Sharma, Rex Hoggard writes that most of his peers know little about the two-time European Tour winner and current Race To Dubai leader, who holds a two-stroke lead.
Who is Shubhankar Sharma?
For those who will find themselves asking the question on Sunday, take heart that the soft-spoken player from India is obscure even among the game’s play-for-pay set.
“I don't know, other than he's young. He's like 21, right?" laughed 24-year-old Justin Thomas. "Man, kids,”
Even those who may have crossed paths with Sharma on the European Tour, which he qualified for with his victory in December at the Joburg Open, had only a passing knowledge.
Sharma only introduced himself to one player this week: Phil Mickelson. And Lefty tried to shoo the non-scribbler away. Hoggard writes in a GolfChannel.com item devoted to this gem:
Me and my caddie went up to [Mickelson]. He thought we were media and he said, ‘Not right now, after the round,’” Sharma laughed. “Then he just realized and said, ‘So sorry, I thought you were media.’ He said ‘hi.’ I said ‘hi.’ Then he made a few putts and he came back to me and said, ‘Have a good day.’ It was nice.”
Poor Phil, it's been so long since a media member even wanted to chat that he forgot what we look like!
Earlier in the week, AP's Doug Ferguson profiled Sharma and how he found the game through his families ties to Anirban Lahiri.
Sharma and Anirban Lahiri -- the player he replaced as India's No. 1 -- are both Army brats. Retired Col. Mohan Sharma was stationed at the same post as Lahiri's father, a gynecologist, when Sharma's younger sister was born.
Final round tee times and TV Times courtesy of Golfweek.
Round three highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:
