European Tour, PGA Tour, World Golf ChampionshipsBrian KeoghWGC-Mexico Championship, Shubhankar Sharma, Paul Dunne

Sharma continues fairytale run in Mexico

European Tour, PGA Tour, World Golf ChampionshipsBrian KeoghWGC-Mexico Championship, Shubhankar Sharma, Paul Dunne
Sharma continues fairytale run in Mexico
Shubhankar Sharma of India plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City. Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

Shubhankar Sharma of India plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City. Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

Paul Dunne is 58th after a 72 but Shubhankar Sharma has a host of stars breathing down as he retained his two-shot lead heading into the final round of the WGC – Mexico Championship at Chapultepec Golf Club.

England's Tyrrell Hatton shot a blistering 64 to move into a share of second, alongside American Phil Mickelson (65) and Spanish pair Sergio Garcia (69) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (69).

But Sharma looks like a man who will be hard to beat and he knows how to win, albeit not in this company, having capture the Joburg Open in December and last month's Maybank Championship to top the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.

The 21-year-old from India now becomes the youngest player to lead after 54 holes of a World Golf Championships event after a third round 69 left him 13-under par on his WGC debut.

World Number One Dustin Johnson (68), left-hander Brian Harman (68), Pat Perez (68) and Xander Shauffele (70) are three shots off the pace on ten under, with the in-form Justin Thomas just a shot further back after a brilliant, course-record setting nine under par 62.

Dunne's one-over round saw him fall another nine spots on the leaderboard to seven-over even though he hit as many fairways as he did on the first two days combined — seven.

While there were six birdies, including a wonderful cut-up pitch-in from the rough at the back of the 14th, he missed nine greens and took six at the driveable first, his 10th, where he had to reload after losing his tee shot right.

As for Sharma, he's still pinching himself and after making a 14 footer to save par after bunkering his approach to the 18th, he's looking forward to Sunday's battle. 

“Obviously a dream come true for me to be playing in this tournament and obviously leading after two days, that's just fantastic," he said.  

"Really happy with the way I played today, stuck in there.  Obviously made a few mistakes on the greens but the greens are tough this week, so I think everyone's making a few mistakes.  So I wasn't too hard on myself.  Very, very happy that I could grind out a par on the last hole.

“Tomorrow will be a lot of fun. Obviously, Phil is a legend in the game of golf and I've seen him on TV for as many years as I can remember.  You know, I met him for the first time today and it's great that I'm paired with him tomorrow.  It will be a lot of fun.”

Mickelson (47) hasn't won since the 2013 Open Championship but he's been trending upwards for the past few weeks, following a missed cut in the CareerBuilder Challenge and a tied for 45th in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines with three top 10 finishes in Phoenix, Pebble Beach and Los Angeles.

“It's been a long time since my game's been back to this point," Mickelson said. "I'm back playing some of my best golf again.  It will start to click and get better and better as the year goes on.  

"My swing is back on plane. It's starting to come together.  I think whether it happens tomorrow or not, very good chance it will, but if it doesn't, it's going to happen soon because I'm playing too well for it not to.”

Ross Fisher had a hole-in-one at the third, holing a nine-iron from 157 yards for a 69 that leaves him tied 21st on five-under.

Scores