By Rahul Banerji
The Betfred British Masters tees off at England’s Belfry Resort on Wednesday, Shubhankar Sharma, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Gaganjeet Bhullar all in the mix, and hoping to see a change in their recent fortunes.
Hosted by 2016 Augusta Masters winner Danny Willet, the 43rd edition of the British Masters offers 1.85 million Euro as a prize fund and will be the first of nine events that will be played in the UK on the 2021 Race to Dubai schedule.
Two-time Indian Open winner Chawrasia will tee off on Wednesday in the day’s first group alongside Gregory Havret of France and Holland’s Darius van Driel.
Sharma has a mid-morning start alongside Thailand’s Jazz Janewattanond and Porteous Haydn of South Africa while Bhullar opens with Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard and Soren Kjeldsen later in the afternoon.
It has not been a very productive few months for the three, and the British Masters offers yet another opportunity to make some gains both in terms of the tour’s Race to Dubai Order of Merit and world ranking points.
Tokyo cut-off
The Tokyo Olympic Games cut-off point is fast approaching and barring Sharma, Chawrasia and Bhullar, only Anirban Lahiri is currently active amongst those in the race. With domestic golf stalled yet again, there is much to play for.
Udayan Mane currently tops the list in 309th place (updated this week) with Lahiri in 333rd place and Bhullar (341st) closest behind him.
Lahiri returns to tournament play later this week after being laid low by Covid at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas, Texas, in two days time.
The rest are as good as out of the fray for the two Tokyo berths potentially available.
Bhullar had a recent best of tied 38th at the Canary Islands Championship in Tenerife last week after opening with a tied 11th place finish at the Kenya Open in March.
Chawrasia, well down in the OWGR list, missed out on a top 10 finish at the Austrian Open where he ended in a share of 15th place. Three missed cuts have not helped and he was tied 61st in the Canary Islands event last week.
Sharma has also missed two cuts since Kenya (at Gran Canaria Lopesan Open and Tenerife Open) and brought in a 69th placing at the Canary Islands Championship.
Host’s honour
Speaking on the Eurpean Tour’s website, event host Willet who joins the likes of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, said he was looking forward to the honour.
“I’ve wanted to do it ever since the first one in 2015. I thought the guys hosting it and having their say on a few things was a great idea.
“I am probably one of the ‘older’ players on Tour having been here for 11 years, so it’s a real honour to be able to host an event.
“I’m very excited to be hosting the Betfred British Masters at a very iconic European venue in The Belfry.
“We’ve had some great hosts and some great golf courses, it’s nice to see some of the best courses in Britain that people may not have had the chance to play on.”
On recent form, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Martin Kaymer of Germany who is a two-time Major winner and England’s Sam Horsefield will be among the early favourites.
Also read: Chawrasia into top-5 at Austrian Open; Sharma turns up the heat
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.