By Rahul Banerji
The excitement is palpable at the Tata Steel Tour Championship, the PGTI’s season-ending event in Jamshedpur which tees off on Thursday.
The star-studded field will be highlighted by Shubhankar Sharma, a two-time European Tour winner, defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar and twice Indian Open champion S.S.P. Chawrasia.
All three now ply their trade on the European Tour, and they will be alongside the top-60 from the PGTI’s Order of Merit in the dray.
There’s much to play for with Rs. 1.5 crore on offer as total prize money for the event.
The Order of Merit race too enters its final stretch with multiple contenders in the fray. There is also competition to cement spots in the top 10 on the merit list to earn country spots for berths on the Asian Tour in the future.
Pre-tournament favourites Shubhankar and Bhullar return to Jamshedpur with fond memories as the former won the 15th Tata Open 2016 in his last appearance in the Steel City.
Gaganjeet won with an astonishing total of 24-under 264 last year.
Shubhankar-speak
Sharma, who recently retained his card on the European Tour with three top-10 and two top-20 finishes towards the end of the season in Europe, said, “I have wonderful memories of Jamshedpur.
“I vividly remember 2016 and the last putt I made to win that event. It was one of my biggest wins back then. Hopefully, I can repeat what I did in 2016.
“I’ve played events here across both courses. It’s different but I like it. Both courses are quite different.
“It’s great to finish the tournament at Beldih because of the tight greens there. It will make for a fascinating finale.
“We can’t be more thankful to Tata Steel for their support especially through the tough times in the last two years.
“I’ve had a long season this year as I was playing in Europe from April to October. I learnt a lot about myself and my game during this period.
“I wasn’t playing well to begin with but everything came together after July. I’m really happy with how I managed myself. That has given me a lot of confidence for the next season,” added Sharma, currently the highest-ranked Indian in the world at 285.
Gagan-speak
Added Bhullar, “It’s so good to get back on the golf course where you have won and that too the biggest tournament on the PGTI.
“Jamshedpur is very close to my heart because my father lived here back in the day. I had so many family friends walking with me and cheering for me last year.
“The atmosphere was electrifying and positive. So glad to be back here.
“This is a unique format and it’s not easy to adapt to the two courses. Add to that the 15 to 20-minute drive between the two courses.
“You get time to warm up again when you reach the second venue. Both courses are quite different.
“Beldih has small, squarish, table-top greens, one hitting close always has an advantage there. Golmuri has quite a few par-5s so you can actually go for it. So it’s a good mix.
“It’s been a mixed season for me. I actually played well in a few events but my scores were not up to the mark considering the intense competition on the European Tour.
“But I’ve been keeping my body in shape and working on my game, including a few swing changes. I’m definitely heading closer to the best I can perform.”
Much at stake
The Order of Merit title winner at the end of this week’s event is set to earn a four-year exemption on the PGTI.
The race for the title, therefore, is intense and could go down to the wire with Rs. 22,50,000 on offer as the winning purse.
Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar, a two-time winner in the 2020-21 PGTI season, currently leads the Order of Merit with season’s earnings of Rs. 49,59,880.
Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S. (Rs. 46,04,630), Olympian Udayan Mane (Rs. 36,22,275) of Pune and Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (Rs. 36,19,600) are is closest pursuers.
Kochhar, who has the chance of breaking Rashid Khan’s 2019 PGTI season’s earnings record of Rs. 66,27,650, said, “The last two months have not been up to my standards.
“But I played well the last two weeks in Asia and that really helped me get things going once again.
“I think it will be a tough fight for the Order of Merit this week with so many contenders. It would be a good test for the professionals to play well across both the courses.
“My focus would be to play some quality golf and put four good rounds together to end the season well.”
Also read: Beldih, Golmuri to host Tata Steel Tour Championship 2021
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