By Rahul Banerji
Lanky left-hander Kartik Sharma has come in for high praise from Internationals captain Stuart Appelby after his display in the just-cuncluded Junior Presidents Cup played in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday last.
Kartik, 19, took a solid 3&1 win over Stephen Campbell Jr of the United States after losing in the Four-Ball and Foursomes competitions, and Appelby said the 19-year-old from Delhi had a bright future in the game, according to a PGA Tour statement.
Appelby was of the opinion that Kartik’s game reminded him in many way of Canadian Mike Weir, an eight-time PGA Tour winner and five-time Presidents Cup member. Both Sharma and Weir are left-handers.
“Kartik has a Mike Weir all over him. I saw Mike and told him there’s a guy out here who’s you and he has your mannerism, he’s left-handed and even the way he holds his club out and line-up a shot. There’s a lot of talent there,” said Appleby.
Happy chappie
Sharma, 19, was over the moon despite the International losing 11-13 to Team USA at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. The tennis-loving teen made sure he left Australia with a point in hand following a convincing result over Campbell Jr, a 2019 Rolex Junior All-American.
“It’s awesome to be playing in a team event. I’ve learnt a lot from it and hopefully it’ll help me become a better player,” Kartik said.
“There’s no short cut. You just have to work your backside off. That’s what I’ve done and all the 24 players have done to be here. There’s nothing called talent, I don’t believe in that.”
Appleby, himself a five-time Presidents Cup member and nine-time PGA Tour champion, believes his 12 young charges could do well in the game despite suffering a second consecutive defeat to the US, led by Justin Leonard.
“These next five years will be the next level … where do they go from here. They’re good enough here, they’re much better than I was when I was their age,” said Appleby.
“Golf is lonely … the media only talks about the one percent of that one percent of what you do and the rest of the time, you’re doing the 99.999 percent when no one is looking and that’s the stuff that matters.
“When you’re out on the range at 8am all by yourself or in the rain practising or out late in the evening figuring out your putting. You can grow from there,” said Appleby.
Tiger opts to lead the way
With the junior event having set the tone, the big boys swing into action at Royal Melbourne from Thursday with US playing captain Tiger Woods choosing to lead the way by pairing himself with Justin Thomas in the opening Four-Ball match.
Five pairs will see action on the critical opening day and Internationals captain Ernie Els nominated Australia’s Marc Leishman and in-form Chilean and tournament debutant Joaquin Neimann to go up against Woods and Thomas.
The Internationals’ lone win in the competition came 21 years ago at the samevenue with Team USA taking the honours the last seven times in a row.
High regard
World number five Dustin Johnson, who will be playing in his fourth Presidents Cup, said the US would not take their opponents lightly despite all but one of their squad – Rickie Fowler – ranked in the world’s top 20.
Fowler was a late replacement for injured world no. 1 Brooks Koepka, who pulled out of the event barely a week ago.
“They have a great team, we have a great team. We have to play well if we want to beat them,” Johnson was quoted as saying. “I’ll play as many (matches) as Tiger wants me to play – I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t ready to play,” he added.
Four-Ball match-ups (Internationals first)
Marc Leishman/Joaquin Neimann vs Juston Thomas/Tiger Woods
Adam Hadwin/Sungjae Im vs Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantalay
Adam Scott/Byeong Hun An vs Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
Hideki Matsuyama/C.T. Pan vs Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen vs Duston Johnson/Gary Woodland
Also read: Matsuyama seeks revenge on Tiger at Prez Cup; Ahlawat consolidates
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