Sunday, February 04, 2018

Sharma storms to victory  while Warren nosedives to a closing 81 in Malaysia

GettyImages-914017196 
The image of Shubhankar Sharma by courtesy of Getty Images

Shubhankar Sharma carded a sensational closing 62 to win his second European Tour title of the season at the Maybank Championship while Scot Marc Warren, joint fifth with 18 holes to play, crashed to a closing round of 81.
The Indian claimed his maiden victory in just his tenth event at the Joburg Open in December and made it two from 13 at Saujana Golf & Country Club as his bogey-free finish got him to 21 under.
Spaniard Jorge Campillo finished two shots back after firing a 68, a shot clear of his compatriot Pablo Larrazábal and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
The win takes Sharma to the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and he becomes just the third Indian after Jeev Milkha Singh and Anirban Lahiri to win two European Tour events in the same season.
Sharma made four birdies in a row from the fourth to get within two of the lead and then holed a long putt on the ninth to turn in 31 and cut the gap to one. The 21 year old never looked back as he went on to fire five birdies on the back nine to match the ten under par Englishman Lee Westwood carded in round two earlier this week.
Italian Nino Bertasio and Japanese pair Ryo Ishikawa and Hideto Tanihara all carded rounds of 69 to finish at 16 under alongside India's Khalin H Joshi, who is Sharma’s roommate this week, and South African Dylan Frittelli who finished with a 71. American Berry Henson also carded a 71 to finish at 15 under and close out the top ten.
Player quotes
Shubhankar Sharma: “I played pretty solid and it wasn’t easy because it was windy. I kept pushing the whole day. I knew I had to make a lot birdies to catch the leaders. I made a lot of birdies in the front nine and just continued on the back.
“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about the leaderboard. I wanted to set a target in my mind and try to achieve it. On the 13th I knew I was somewhere near the leaders but on 16 I knew I had a two-shot lead. I told myself if I can make two more birdies, that would give me a good chance to win.
“The last two months have changed my life. I’ve been a member on the Asian Tour for a while and I will continue to be a member on the Asian Tour. I’ve always dreamt of winning and now I’m a two-time winner on the Asian Tour and European Tour.
“It is still early in the season and I haven’t thought about winning the Habitat for Humanity Standings (formerly Asian Tour Order of Merit). I’m also leading in the Race to Dubai but I’m not thinking about it because there are so many events left. If I play well enough, I will have a good chance to win the Habitat for Humanity Standings. 
"This win is great because it opens so many doors for me. I’m also playing in The Open at Carnoustie in July so I’m excited about that. All and all, it is a great day.
“This is a very special golf course. I finished tied ninth here last year and it was my first Maybank Championship and best result in a co-sanctioned event. I kept my Asian Tour card here because of this result here. Obviously, I love the course. It wasn’t easy today because it was very windy but this course suits my eye."
Jorge Campillo: “I started really good. I started good in the first eight holes then I missed my drive on the ninth hole. After that I made some good up-and-downs and gave myself some birdie chance. I finished good so I’m happy with that.
“I knew he had to shoot low but not that low. It was windy and it was quite tricky out there. It is tough to beat someone who shoots a ten under. I kept trying and I’ve finished second way too many times.
“I finished by myself so that’s quite positive. I’m very happy with that.”
Pablo Larrazabal: “After missing the cut in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, we knew that I was playing good. I took five weeks off during the winter and I came fresh, but the swing wasn’t ready to go.
“I made the cut on the mark and it was a little bit of a release, we knew that we were hitting the ball very nicely, we just had to roll some putts in, so 14 under par over the weekend is something special, a bogey-free weekend is as good as it can get.
“Congratulations to Sharma, to shoot ten under par on Sunday you will win any event you play in and top five I am very happy.”
Ryan Fox: “It was solid. Not quite as good of a start as yesterday, I started with a three instead of a two, but I gave myself a bunch of chances and closed well, but Shubhankar played some amazing golf out there to shoot ten and that is pretty hard to catch.
“It was the best I’ve played for a little while. I drove it really solid, the ball-striking was there, and I holed some putts today, so a lot to take into the rest of the season and put four rounds together this week."
Final totals
par 288 (4x72)
267
S Sharma (India) 70 69 66 62
269 J Campillo (Spn) 69 66 66 68
270 R Fox (NZ) 68 68 68 66, P Larrazábal (Spn) 70 70 64 66,
272 N Bertasio (Ita) 68 65 70 69, D Frittelli (SAf) 69 66 66 71, K Joshi (India) 67 70 65 70, R Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 66 63 69, H Tanihara (Jpn) 71 64 68 69
273 B Henson (USA) 69 68 65 71
274 P Peterson (USA) 69 70 65 70, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 66 71 68, R Wattel (Fra) 67 73 65 69, M Pavon (Fra) 70 67 70 67, L Westwood (Eng) 72 62 70 70, J Luiten (Netherlands) 72 68 66 68
275 A Sullivan (Eng) 71 66 71 67, S Jamieson (Sco) 68 69 69 69, D Lipsky (USA) 67 68 71 69, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 68 65 70 72, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 66 71 67 71, B Hebert (Fra) 69 70 65 71
276 T Detry (Bel) 68 68 69 71, P Pittayarat (Tha) 72 66 70 68, S Kapur (Ind) 70 67 67 72, D Kataoka (Jpn) 68 67 72 69,
277 C Paisley (Eng) 65 69 72 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 68 71 66 72, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 69 70 72 66, A Johnston (Eng) 67 71 68 71, P Marksaeng (Tha) 71 65 67 74, J Pagunsan (Phi) 68 70 73 66, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 71 67 66 73,
278 J Colomo (Esp) 71 67 70 70, D Boonma (Tha) 70 66 71 71, A Atwal (Ind) 67 71 68 72, C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 68 69 73 68, D Horsey (Eng) 66 70 72 70,
279 S Vincent (Zim) 71 68 71 69, Y Ikeda (Jpn) 70 64 71 74, G Green (Mas) 68 69 69 73, T Jaidee (Tha) 69 67 69 74, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 71 69 70, P Meesawat (Tha) 74 66 70 69, J Janewattananond (Tha) 68 71 70 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 65 73 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 67 71 72, S Lee (Kor) 67 69 71 72, T Bjørn (Den) 68 68 69 74,
280 J Randhawa (Ind) 67 71 71 71, M Tran (Vie) 73 65 70 72, G Storm (Eng) 72 68 69 71, A Nazrin (Mas) 70 68 74 68, T Wiratchant (Tha) 70 70 69 71,
281 S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 71 71 70, M Manassero (Ita) 70 68 70 73, S Yates (Sco) 72 66 74 69, A Dodt (Aus) 71 65 74 71, A Levy (Fra) 67 70 73 71,
282 F Zanotti (Par) 68 69 75 70, H Stenson (Swe) 72 67 73 70,
283 M Southgate (Eng) 73 66 72 72, S Kim (USA) 71 69 71 72, J Wang (Kor) 70 70 70 73, A Connelly (Can) 71 69 73 70, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 68 73 71,
284 M Warren (Sco) 68 66 69 81, A Lascuna (Phi) 69 68 72 75,
285 J Smith (Eng) 70 68 74 73,
286 R Wannasrichan (Tha) 70 70 72 74, J Norris (Aus) 71 69 73 73,
287 K Horne (RSA) 71 68 74 74,
288 D Im (USA) 69 71 73 75,
214 C Hanson (Eng) 68 70 76 0, N Fung (Mas) 71 69 74 0,
216 B Leong (Mas) 69 70 77 0, C Pigem (Esp) 69 71 76 0, M Siem (Ger) 69 71 76 0,
217 R Karlsson (Swe) 68 68 81 0,
218 E Pepperell (Eng) 69 69 80 0,
219 D Clarke (Nir) 72 68 79 0, 

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