Young gun Sharma aims for the skies

Shubhankar Sharma’s golfing story is very much an organic one; from a kid going to the golf course with his father, rising through the amateur ranks, turning professional at 16 and now leading both the European Tour Race to Dubai and the Asian Tour Order of Merit.There was no master plan to create a golfing star; it was simply an offer of guidance and support to help an enthusiastic boy pursue his dream. Today, more than 11 years after he first set foot on a golf course at the age of six, he has achieved a career-high rank of 71 following two European Tour wins this year,  and is now hoping to fulfill his dream of becoming World No 1.“Enjoying being at the top and I’m really happy at the moment, but not surprised by my victories as I was always confident of winning at this level,” Sharma told Gulf Times yesterday on the eve of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, his 15th European Tour eventTwo European Tour titles in three months (Joberg Open in December and Maybank Championship this month) is a dream-come-true for Sharma but the Indian youngster is trying to stay confident but grounded as he prepares for the World Golf Championship (WGC) in Mexico next week and The British Open in July.“Feeling great, it’s early in the season but it’s great start. Joburg was fantastic, I just played really well all four days and even pushed it into a Monday finish. I was really calm throughout and it was fantastic. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as possible. On the other hand, in Malaysia, I was not expecting to win on the last day, I just had a crazy final round and got it done,” the 21-year-old from Chandigarh said.His latest success also helped him join the exclusive club of Indians who have achieved two wins in the same European Tour season, the others being Jeev Milkha Singh (2006) and Anirban Lahiri (2015).“I am young, but I am very comfortable playing against top players as I am playing professional golf since last six years. I hope I will achieve my dream to crack into world top 50 and probably become world No 1, a dream of every golfer,” the 21-year-old added.Apart from Qatar event, Sharma’s focus is on the WGC next week with the intention of keeping his career trending upwards and  playing on the PGA Tour.“Right now I am focusing on the Qatar Masters and after that I will play in my biggest tournament, the World Golf Championship in Mexico. I’m really excited as it was a goal of mine to get into one WGC event this year.”Talking about his first appearance in Qatar against two major winners and six past winners he said: “European Tour is always tough. It’s a new course form me, but a fantastic one. I think the greens are firm, but it will be difficult to put a big spin as the fairways are narrow.“All the courses on which I will play this year are new to me, apart from India of course, and maybe Malaysia, because I played there last year. Just fantastic, it just adds to my experience.” Sharma is a product of India’s developing golf culture and he believes more players would come out of it.Sharma missed the cut at last week’s NBO Oman Open as he was struggling with his putting speed. He is paired with former champion Chris Wood of England and Romain Wattel of France in the first two rounds.