In what could be an amazing scenario and ultra-talented Sharma Shubhanker is targeting being handed the gleaming BMW PGA Championship winning trophy three days after behind presented with his prize for 2018 European Tour ‘Rookie of the Year’.
The 23-year old added a third round 66 to earlier scores of 71 and 67 to be tied in third place with England’s Justin Rose (67) and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (69), who broke through to win a maiden Tour victory earlier this year at the Andalucian Masters.
Sharma is no stranger to victory winning twice last year to earn the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award.
However, this week is the first occasion the Tour has had the chance to formally honour the Indian golfer and present him with his award, and that honour was carried out on Thursday by European Tour CEO, Keith Pelley.
Now Sharma could find himself being presented with a trophy of a different kind late Sunday afternoon UK time.
His third round was a mix of nine birdies, including three in succession from the ninth hole, but also three bogeys while Sharma walked from the course clearly disappointed not to birdie 18 and sign for a round of 65 that would have matched the lowest score on day three set much earlier by World No. 2 Rory McIlroy.
“It was a good round and I made a lot of birdies while I gave myself a lot of opportunities and pretty pleased with the way I played,” said Sharma.
“As the week’s gone on, each round has got better and better with my game improving as the rounds have been progressing. Obviously it’s my first time playing at Wentworth and learning more about the course with more rounds.
“It’s shown I played really good today. I was reading the greens really well. All in all, pretty solid day.
“I’ve not been playing bad the last few weeks. It’s just about putting in four good rounds together. Just the whole year has been a bit slow, but haven’t felt like I played really bad. It’s just about getting the right breaks and putting in four
good rounds.
“Hopefully I can do that this week and get on a good run after this.”
No India-born golfer has won at Wentworth and naturally Sharma would be thrilled to add his name to the gleaming BMW PGA trophy.
“I’m really excited. Really looking forward to tomorrow,” he said.
“It’s a great course. A lot of birdie opportunities. So anything’s possible and I’ll try my best tomorrow.”
As a footnote, Sharma has managed an impressive 19 birdies over the three rounds and posted only three bogeys though still sticking out like a sore thumb was the ‘8’ he took at the fourth hole on day one.
