By Rahul Banerji
Shubhankar Sharma and Ajeetesh Sandhu are in the field for the Porsche European Open that tees off in Hamburg on Saturday due to a late schedule change.
Sharma is coming off a strong performance at the Made in HimmerLand event in Denmark last week where he brought in his best finish for close to 18 months.
A shared eighth place saw Sharma climb into the top 100 in the Race to Dubai standings and improve his Official Golf World Ranking to 286.
A top seven placing in Hamburg will open the door to the upcoming US Open next week at Torrey Pines.
Prior to Denmark, Sharma had a share of 34th place at the Betfred British Masters and a 69th place finish in the Canary Islands Championship in Tenerife.
Sandhu too has been spending time in Europe with limited opportunities thanks to his ranking. He had a T61at the Austrian Open in April and a share of 71st at the Canary Islands Championship.
Last week, Sandhu was at the Ladies Italian Open caddying for Tvesa Malik, who added a third Ladies European Tour top-10 finish to her resume in Piedmont.
Covid delays event
Meanwhile, the European Tour has rescheduled the European Open which will now be played over 54 holes between Saturday, June 5 and Monday, June 7 because of Covid restrictions.
According to the tour website, the tournament, at the Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg, was originally scheduled to begin on Thursday and played over 72 holes.
The late change was made after the German government last week put the United Kingdom on its travel ‘red list’.
The effect would have been that close to a third of the 156-player field, along with a number of caddies and production and Tour staff, would have been unable to enter Germany without observing a mandatory quarantine period.
The adjusted date means that many of those affected get to spend the required time outside the UK including last week’s event in Denmark, before entering Germany.
The Hamburg field will be headlined by England’s Paul Casey and Abraham Ancer of Mexico, who are both in the current top 20 of the world rankings.
The field also has two Major winners in Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Germany’s Martin Kaymer.
Choi backs Lee to shine
Across the Atlantic, Asian golf legend K.J. Choi feels fellow-Korean K.H. Lee is on the verge of accumulating PGA Tour wins after his maiden title last month.
And Choi is not ruling out doing a Phil Mickelson himself at this week’s the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, pgatour.com adds.
An eight-time Tour winner, Choi, 51, has been an inspiration to many Koreans over the past two decades and made sure he was by the 18th green to watch Lee win the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Lee, the eighth Korean winner on the PGA Tour, was surprised to see Choi in the gallery with 2019 Byron Nelson winner Sung Kang, and said the trail-blazing Choi was the “big daddy” of Korean golf.
Choi said: “I have known K.H. since he was young. Even when I was in the US, I heard about him and knew he had great performances as a national team member and a professional golfer.
‘Amazing win’
“I didn’t want to miss his first win, so I drove to the club before his last putt. It was a strong field and winning under those conditions were amazing and it meant a lot to him.
“I wanted to celebrate with him in person, and not via a phone call. When I hugged K.H., I could feel he was shaking.
“Then I said to him “This is great. Now that you’ve won on the PGA Tour with your hard work, you will get another soon.”
A rice farmer’s son, Choi defied the odds and worked his way to the PGA Tour in 1999, becoming the first Korean golfer to earn playing rights on the world’s leading circuit.
His victories include the 2007 Memorial Tournament, which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus, and the 2011 Players Championship, the Tour’s flagship tournament.
Lee, 29, acknowledged he still had a long way to match Choi and was happy to learn from his senior.
Getting tips
Lee played a practice round with Choi at Muirfield Village on Tuesday in hope of emulating his idol’s victory. Two years ago, Lee was the joint second round leader before finishing tied 37th.
“K.J means so many things to us. He is the all-time legend and the reason Korean juniors dream of becoming professional golfers. He is the pioneer,” said Lee.
“I was very surprised to see him but at the same time, very thankful to have him watch me win.
“He said many nice things and it was just an honour to have him there. I mean, K.J. is always here … big daddy, so I’m very thankful and it means a lot to me.”
Spain’s Jon Rahm will defend his title against a stellar field including Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama, whose first PGA Tour victory was at the Memorial in 2014.
Also read: Indians hope for better fortunes as British Masters tees off on Wednesday
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