Sharma Shines In The Maybank Championship In Malaysia

Sharma Shines In The Maybank Championship In Malaysia

Shubhankar Sharma, 21, put in a superb final round at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia to lift the winner’s trophy on Sunday to the shock of quite a few people. Sharma had gone into the final round trailing leaders Jorge Campillo of Spain and Dylan Frittelli of South Africa, but he put in a remarkable and almost flawless round to secure victory at the Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur; walking away with his share of the $3,000,000 prize fund.

Jorge Campillo was the overnight leader heading into the final round and the task looked slightly beyond Sharma with the Spaniard seemingly well in control of matters. However, Sharman had other ideas, as he came out and hit an impressive 10 birdies that gave him a 10 under par total. Sharma finished 21 under par in Malaysia with Campillo two behind on 19 under par. Dylan Fritelli, who had also been in the mix heading into the final round, found himself further down the pecking order on 16 under par when the tournament finished.

Sharma’s win at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia is actually his second on the European Tour this season. He won the Joburg Open back in December by 3 strokes finishing ahead of Erik van Rooyen who finished in second place. The 21 year old is now well ahead in the Race to Dubai standings after his second victory on the tour. England’s Tommy Fleetwood in second, LI Haotong of China in third and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in fourth find themselves well off the pace set by Sharma as things stand.

The Maybank Championship was a disappointing one for England’s Lee Westwood. Westwood hasn’t won a title for over three years and this was one he certainly had a chance of winning as the final day approached. Westwood was only three shots behind overnight leader Jorge Campillo, but Sharma’s impressive final round combined with a second successive score of 70 saw Westwood finish well behind on 14 under par.

It’s certainly been a remarkable rise for Shubhankar Sharma though who has said that the last two months have changed his life, following his tournament wins at the Maybank Championship and the Joburg Open. It means that Sharma has now won 2 of his first 13 events on the European Tour which is a remarkable achievement, especially for a golfer who’s only really just finding his feet at 21 years old. It certainly was a pleasant surprise, with pundits and sporting news sites like sporting news sites like Betting.com not anticipating the rise of the youngster.

Sharma, who hails from India, now has 8 professional wins to his name and his victory at the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, also saw him jump into the top 100 for the first time in his career too. Sharma has been a member of the Asian Tour for a good while now and is planning on continuing to be but he now knows he’s got what it takes to compete on the European Tour too. The two-time winner on the Asian and European Tour is certainly set to shine as his career progresses.