Rory McIlroy and Shubhankar Sharma. Pics: European Tour
Dubai, Jan 26: Fresh from the performance of his best week on the European Tour since 2018, Shubhankar Sharma is brimming with confidence as he is ready for the second Rolex Series event at this week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.
Sharma, who came within a shot of pulling off his greatest win, and finished second at Abu Dhabi Championship, is drawn in one of the early groups from the tenth tee alongside 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Sam Horsfield, who won the Hero Open in 2020. They will tee off at 7.40 am local time.
“I am feeling good and confident. I have taken a lot of positives from the week (in Abu Dhabi). Naturally one is disappointed at having come so close and not closing it, but I am proud of the showing. I played well and had some really long putts on the final day,” said Sharma. He also had a few misses, which proved costly, but is hoping to work on them.
Sharma, now 25, has won twice on the European Tour at the Joburg Open and the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, four-time Major champion Rory McIlroy is looking for his maiden Rolex Series title, at his happy hunting ground – Dubai.
McIlroy made just his fourth DP World Tour start at Emirates Golf Club as a 16-year-old amateur in 2006 – also following Tiger Woods round inside the ropes – and three years later he lifted the trophy for his first professional victory.
He won the Dallah Trophy again in 2015 and having also tasted glory twice at the DP World Tour Championship and lived in the Emirate, the Northern Irishman is delighted to be back.
Paul Casey is seeking to add another achievement to his already glittering CV when he defends the title in Dubai this week. The 44-year-old has 15 DP World Tour wins in addition to three victories on the PGA TOUR and has been on the winning side in three of his five Ryder Cup appearances.
Viktor Hovland arrives in Dubai in excellent form having finished fourth at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and with two wins in his last four events.
“(I have) a lot of good memories here. Played as an amateur, got to World Number One amateur after playing pretty well in 2007. I lived in Dubai for four years as well. I’ve got good memories here. Have a lot of close friends from this region. It’s a very comfortable place for me and it’s nice to be back,” said McIlroy.
“This was one of the first events I played on the European Tour back in 2006, I think as a 16-year-old. The course hasn’t changed that much over the years. They put a couple of new tee boxes here and there. The greens seem to get progressively smaller as we keep coming back, so to see the new green complexes is nice to see them in their original shapes.”
Casey said, “It feels great. There’s not many times you’re the defending champion. Feels brilliant. For me it was an emotional win last year, big win. To see the trophy again, I saw it on Monday night in the event down the road and to see my name next to other great champions is a very, very cool thing. I’ve still yet to defend a title on the European Tour. I did it (Valspar Championship) in the (united) States. I did it as an amateur. I’d love to do it on the DP World Tour.”
Hovland said, “I took a little break over the winter, and felt a little rusty in Hawaii but last week I started playing well again and I feel like my game is trending in the right direction. Hopefully I can kind of build on a lot of stuff that I did well last week and just kind of clean up a couple things here and there.”
