Head to WGC-Mexico Championship 12:00, 20/02/2019

By Chuah Choo Chiang

Senior director, communications of the PGA TOUR

Phil Mickeson

These days, the new generation of young Asian stars such as Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, India’s Shubhankar Sharma, Haotong Li of China, Korea’s Si Woo Kim, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei are in it to win it.

Shubhankar Sharma

They don’t want to merely make up the numbers at the WGCs or on the PGA TOUR, and now possess a burning desire to win at the highest level. Backed by armory in their games and fearless attitudes, the young guns have high doses of confidence running through their veins to take dead aim at World Golf Championships titles.

This month’s WGC-Mexico Championship, which is offering a princely US$10.25 million in prize money at the Club de Golf Chapultepec from February 21 to 24, will present the region’s leading lights with their first shot at WGC glory in 2019.

Twelve months ago, India’s Sharma announced his arrival on the big stage by snatching the second- and third-round lead through some glorious golf before finishing T9. Arriving in Mexico on the back of two Asian Tour-European Tour co-sanctioned victories, the 22-year-old unveiled his growing credentials with a masterful display in Mexico which he followed up later in the year by sharing the third-round lead at the PGA TOUR’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia before finishing T10.

American golf legend Phil Mickelson, who played alongside Sharma during the final round in Mexico, was effusive of his praise towards the young Indian, whom he had funnily enough brushed off on the practice putting green during the previous day after thinking Sharma was a journalist hunting for an interview.

As the new 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, Sharma has secured a quick return to the WGC-Mexico Championship and he is eager to reproduce his heroics at Chapultepec, well known for its narrow fairways and tricky greens.

As it currently stands, Matsuyama, the ultra-talented and tenacious 26-year-old Japanese ace, is currently the lone Asian golfer with two victories registered at the 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions and 2017 WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.

Grip it-and-rip it star, Kiradech is keen to add his name to the exclusive winners’ club soon. Last year, the big-hitting Thai produced his first top-five in a WGC in Mexico, which he credits for helping him become the first Thai to earn a PGA TOUR card for the 2018-19 season. Kiradech also enjoyed top-5s at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and WGC-HSBC Champions in 2018.

Another elite line-up of global golf stars will descend in Mexico City with the likes of Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth all tipped to headline the prestigious tournament which offers 550 FedExCup points.

And for this reason, the Asian brigade cannot wait to challenge the world starting with the WGC-Mexico Championship.