Sharma targets stateside success

TOP Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma believes he has the game to be a multiple winner on the PGA Tour and it is just a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’, the 22-year-old said.

Nine years after Arjun Atwal became the first Indian winner on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship, Sharma finds himself under a burden of similar expectations following a fairytale 2018.

The Chandigarh golfer won the Maybank Championship in January last year, a month after

his Joburg Open triumph, and turned heads in his very first PGA Tour event, holding the

second and third round leads at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

The title eventually eluded him after a final round 74, but Sharma cherishes the experience

and is convinced that his success in golf’s elite league is just a matter of time.

“PGA Tour is the best tour in the world and it’s a no-brainer,” said the winner of the 2018 Asian Tour order of merit title.

“It has been a fabulous experience with them till now. I will love tovplay there as and when I get there.

“As for winning, yes, I definitely have the game and will win there many times. I do not want to force the issue. Let it come. It’s just a matter of time. It can happen even next week. So let’s see.”

Sharma had a busy 2018 when he crisscrossed the world to tee up in 33 events, including all four World Golf Championships and the majors.

“Last year has been a whirlwind, a maddening world tour, so to say. I basically could not refuse any of the events I played,” Sharma said. “I was spread out on three tours and I had some goals to be achieved.

“This year things are much more settled. I am concentrating mainly on the European Tour with a few big events thrown in. I will place myself so that I can give my best on the field.”

He added: “All targets are achievable. One thing I want to play in 2019 is the Presidents

Cup because that will happen only this year.”