Phil Mickelson is a man in high demand.
Understandably, Mickelson likes to have as few distractions as possible prior to teeing off in a tournament round, but on Saturday, he made a funny mistake that will be a part of Shubhankar Sharma’s story for as long as he continues to stay in the spotlight.
Before his 3rd round today the leader, @shubhankargolf went up to introduce himself to Phil Mickelson. Phil thought he was a member of the media and said he would talk after the round. Phil then realized who he was and the two said hello. Classic!
— Todd Lewis (@ToddLewisGC) March 4, 2018
Sharma, the 36 and 54-hole leader of this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship isn’t quite the household name that many of those in hot pursuit of the 21-year-old Indian is, and that reality became obvious when he went to introduce himself to Phil on the putting green and Mickelson brushed him off thinking he was a member of the media.
GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard had more on the funny encounter.
It’s been a week of firsts for Shubhankar Sharma, from playing his first PGA Tour event to meeting the players he grew up idolizing.
Before Saturday’s third round, the 21-year-old from India, who was leading the WGC-Mexico Championship by two strokes, couldn’t help himself when he saw Phil Mickelson on the practice green. As Sharma explained, “Phil is a legend.”
“Me and my caddie went up to [Mickelson]. He thought we were media and he said, ‘Not right now, after the round,’” Sharma laughed. “Then he just realized and said, ‘So sorry, I thought you were media.’ He said ‘hi.’ I said ‘hi.’ Then he made a few putts and he came back to me and said, ‘Have a good day.’ It was nice.”
Mickelson will get a chance to get to know Sharma better on Sunday when the two will be grouped together in the day’s final threesome [with Tyrrell Hatton] at Chapultepec Golf Club.
For Sharma, who earned his spot into this week’s field with two victories on the European Tour this season, it’s just as he imagined when he was a child back home in India watching the major championships into the early hours.
Phil and Sharma will be joined by Tyrrell Hatton in the final threesome that goes off of the first tee at 1:25 p.m. EST.
Here are the complete third round highlights.
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