Looking forward to playing with Woods at British Open: Shubhankar

Kolkata, Dec 24 (IANS) Indian golf's latest sensation Shubhankar Sharma is eager to play alongside his idol Tiger Woods at the British Open, saying he wants to make the most of the opportunity of playing a major and rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the business.

All of 21, Sharma though added in the same breath that he is not going to get carried away by the fame of his rivals.

In topping the leaderboard at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg, Sharma bagged a place at the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie next July.

Three places were up for grabs as part of The Open Qualifying Series and Sharma was joined in securing his spot at Carnoustie by runner-up Erik van Rooyen and Shaun Norris who finished in a tie for third.

"Tiger Woods is my idol. I pretty much follow him. In India, I follow Jeev (Milkha Singh) and Arjun Atwal, SSP (Chawrasia) all of these guys..Anirban (Lahiri).

"I am looking forward to playing with Woods at The Open. He will play, he is fit now," Sharma said after winning the PGTI's season-ending McLeod Russel Tour Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC).

Woods recently recovered from surgery on his lower back which has kept him out for the best part of two years.

But the American thoroughly impressed when he returned for the Hero World Challenge last month.

The former world champion finished ninth in an 18-man field and many pundits have since backed him to get back to his dazzling best.

"You can't really be thinking too big of your opponents. You just have to go there and perform. I just want to do that. I don't know how many chances I will get to play at that big stage so I just want to make the most of it. It's great to play alongside legends of the game like Tiger Woods," Sharma added.

After becoming only the fourth non-South African winner of the Joburg Open earlier this month, Sharma will join the elite list of Indians to compete at The Open. Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh and Anirban Lahiri are the others.

Sharma, who does meditation to keep himself calm on the course, said he cannot get carried away by the fact that he is the second-youngest Indian to play at a major as many others across the world have done it at the age of 17 and gone on to win majors at 21.

"I wanted to play a first major and British Open is my favourite major so I couldn't have asked for anything more. It's come early but again there have been people who have played major when they were 18, 19. There have been people who have won major at 21. So I want to look at it from that perspective and not feel big about my feat."

Sharma said his focus is now to break into the top 50 of the world rankings. He leapfrogged from as low as 462 last week to 226 riding his Joburg Open triumph.

"The doors have opened now for me. Before this, I was just playing the PGTI and in the Asian Tour. Now I will be in the spotlight more. I will be playing on a higher Tour so my focus is getting as many ranking points as possible. I want to get near the top 50 and break into the top 50 as soon as possible."

Sharma signed off by thanking his family, for whom, he said, he was here today.

"My father (Col Mohan Sharma) always travels with me. He could not be here as he had some work. He is the reason I am here today. My parents have been very supportive all throughout. I can't thank them enough for what they have done."