An all-star cast of European Tour players will be in action on the exquisite Greg Norman-designed track, which sits alongside the Gulf of Oman, over the next four days to contest the US$1.75 million event as the eyes of the golfing world fix firmly on the Sultanate.
Current Race to Dubai Rankings leader Shubhankar Sharma, who has taken the European Tour by storm in his rookie season with wins at the Joburg Open and the Maybank Championship, leads the field.
“This is my first time in Oman and it’s such a fantastic golf course,” said the 21-year-old Indian. “I had heard a lot of good things about it before I came from some of the Challenge Tour guys and it certainly lives up to expectation. I played nine holes the past two days and I’m really impressed with the whole course.
“I’ve had such a great welcome from the Omani people, they have been very kind. We are in a lovely hotel so I can’t complain about anything, it’s been fantastic.”
The tournament will mark the first time Oman has hosted a European Tour event following five successful years of hosting tournaments on the second tier European Challenge Tour.
One player who will be hoping that history repeats itself this week is Clement Sordet. The Frenchman roared to a two-shot victory in the Challenge Tour’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at Al Mouj Golf last November to take second place on the Road to Oman Rankings, which saw him graduate to play on this season’s European Tour.
“It’s great to be back here in Oman,” he said. “I have great memories here after my victory here in November. I don’t know if I can win again, but I’ll certainly try my best!
“You have to be really good with your course strategy to do well on Al Mouj Golf. I think the course can be difficult to get around if you don’t pay close attention to where you are hitting it and it can get really windy which makes it tricky.
“I don’t really want to concentrate on trying to win the ‘Oman double’. All I can do is try and play my best and we’ll see if that’s good enough to win a European Tour title.”
The field is jam packed full of former Ryder Cup players such as Darren Clarke, Robert Karlsson, Stephen Gallagher and Jamie Donaldson, not to mention European Captain Thomas Bjorn.
Among those players hoping to rack up some Ryder Cup Points this week in a bid to make Bjorn’s team for the showdown with the USA in Paris this September is Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal.
“I started the year very slowly and missed the cut in Abu Dhabi and Dubai but I made the cut in Malaysia and had a great weekend shooting 64 and 66 to finish tied third so I’m going in the right direction,” said the 2008 European Tour Rookie of the Year.
“I’m hoping to get as many Ryder Cup points as possible before the Rolex Series events start around spring time. If I want to get in the Ryder Cup then I’m going to have to be playing the best golf of my life from May to August so let’s see what we can do and hopefully I can keep the momentum going this week.”
With an all-star cast assembled in Muscat which also includes the likes of Andy Sullivan, Chris Wood, Paul Lawrie and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, the inaugural NBO Oman Open promises to provide captivating drama indeed.
Sharma stays grounded in pursuit of Masters dream
Reuters/Mumbai
Two European Tour titles in two months is a dream-come-true for Shubhankar Sharma but the Indian youngster is trying to stay grounded as he chases a spot at this year’s US Masters.
The 21-year-old overcame a four-stroke deficit to claim a two-shot win at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia this month for his second European Tour title.
He sunk 10 birdies in a remarkable closing round in his triumph at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, a little over a month after his maiden three-shot victory in the Joburg Open.
Sharma is now the highest-ranked Indian in the world at 71st and if he can get into the top 50 it will bring him an invitation to the Masters in April and The Players Championship.
To do that he needs to perform well in the Oman Open and the Qatar Masters before the WGC-Mexico Championship in Mexico City next month.
“My immediate goal is to just play well in the next two events,” Sharma told Reuters in an interview from his home in Chandigarh, where he was fine-tuning his game with long-time swing coach Jesse Grewal.
“Because if I do well enough at the next two, I might have an outside chance of qualifying for the Masters. I just want to keep my feet grounded and my eyes on the ball.”
The Joburg win earned Sharma a ticket to this year’s British Open at Carnoustie and the opportunity to rub shoulders with the top players.
“I played with reigning British Open champion Henrik Stenson in Malaysia, I was very, very happy playing with him on the third day,” said Sharma who turned professional at the age of 16.
“I can’t really pick one player but I am very excited that I will be playing the British Open and Tiger (Woods) most probably will be playing, so to be in the same field with him will be fantastic.”
His father quit the Indian army to help his son chase his aspirations and Sharma was six when he went to a golf course for the first time and got hooked on the sport.
“Dad got a set for himself and cut down two irons that I used to play with,” he said. “I used to sometimes caddy for him and just have fun at the golf course. Those are my earliest memories.
“I just liked going to the course. I used to just try to get the ball in the air because the first few years I couldn’t get the ball in the air.
“Just the joy of seeing the ball fly in the air probably got me addicted.”
Becoming the first Indian golfer to win a major remains the ultimate goal for Sharma.
“At the end of the day it’s just another tournament, just that the conditions are tougher and it’s a world-class field,” he said.
“You have to just play good golf for four days and I don’t see any reason why I can’t do it.”