42-time PGA Tour winner Phil Mickelson dismissed Sharma as a member of the media when the 21-year-old Indian, who would stay up in the middle of the night to watch who are now legends to him, worked up the courage to introduce himself to the veteran American on the putting green.
"He thought we were media and he said, not right now, after the round," Sharma said of the World Golf Hall of Famer.
Sharma survived some anxious moments to maintain his two-shot lead ahead of some of the biggest names such as Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, apart from Mickelson.
Five-time major champion Mickelson will be up against the Indian in his first PGA Tour event - they will tee off in the final group along with Tyrrell Hatton at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
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Sharma, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader whose European Tour wins this season at Johannesburg and the Maybank Championship have propelled him to number 75 in the world, is making his first start in an elite World Golf Championships event.
He's vying to break into the top 50 in time to earn a Masters berth.
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