Shubhankar is 5th, and youngest, Indian to win Asian Tour Order of Merit

By Rahul Banerji 

Shubhankar Sharma is Asia’s new number one golfer. The 22-year-old emerged 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion when his closest rival Justin Harding of South Africa failed to bridge the gap on him at Johannesburg, making for a fitting cap to a dream season.

The Chandigarh-based Shubhankar becomes the fifth and youngest Indian to top the Asian Tour money list in a season alongside Jyoti Randhawa (2002), Arjun Atwal (2003), Jeev Milkha Singh (2006 and 2008) and Anirban Lahiri (2015).

The OOM race had gone close with outstanding performances by Korea’s Sanghyun Park and Harding.However, a T6 finish at the Honma Hong Kong Open gave Sharma some breathing space.

With Park not playing this week and Harding missing the cut at the South African Open on Friday, Sharma gained an unassailable lead with just the season-ending Indonesian Masters left to play.

As it stands, Shubhankar has season’s earnings of $755,994. Park has $561,898 in his kitty and Harding $479,816. Gaganjeet Bhullar is fourth at $422,935 and is in line to improve on his career-best fifth place finish on the money list.

Great role models

“The Tour Order of Merit is very significant as were many of the other milestones, but with this I have followed in the footsteps of golfers like Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh and Anirban Lahiri, all of whom I look up to and who have been very encouraging to me,” said Shubhankar.

“I’m really happy with what has happened. Obviously, the Asian Tour played a big role as it has given me the chance to compete and helped develop my game to my current level.

“This year has been a huge learning curve for me. I’ve played in some of the biggest events I could ever imagine and learned a lot. I know I have the game to be among the best in the world and I just want to keep playing well and give my best shot.”

Lahiri was the previously youngest Indian to be crowned Asia no. 1.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Shubhankar over the last two seasons. He played his first full season in Asia in 2016 when he finished 55^th in the money list and retained his card for 2017.

Rohana in the van

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Anura Rohana stayed in the driver’s seat after round three of the Bengaluru Open at the KGA course on Saturday.

The 45-year-old’s five-under-67, a second consecutive error-free round, saw him open a five shot lead at 18-under 198 ahead of Om Prakash Chouhan (67) and Rashid Khan (68), both on 13-under-203 at the Rs. 60 lakh event.

Rohana (67-64-67), the halfway leader by three shots, enjoyed a steady front-nine where he managed one birdie and eight pars to maintain a safe distance between himself and his nearest challengers Aadil Bedi, Mukesh Kumar and Rashid.

A hot putter on the back nine then saw him drain birdie putts from seven to 15 feet on three holes. Rohana also landed his tee shot within three feet on the par-3 15^th to set up another birdie.

Anura, who won the last of his five titles on the PGTI exactly a year back in Jamshedpur, later said, “It’s great to shoot a second straight bogey-free round.

“So far I’ve dropped just two shots in the tournament and that’s the reason I’m in such a good position.

Need for speed

“I’m not sure whether a lead of even five shots is enough on this course as there are a lot of good players chasing me including Rashid and Chouhan. I can’t afford to be complacent on the final day and need to play attacking golf from start to finish.

“It will be nice if I can become the third Sri Lankan after Mithun Perera and N. Thangaraja to win on the PGTI this year,” added Rohana.

Mhow’s Chouhan (68-68-67) was even-par for the day till the fourth hole but he picked up the pace with five birdies to gain four places.

For his part, two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan gained a spot from tied third after a round of 68 while Chandigarh-based teenager Aadil Bedi, dropped two places to tied fourth after a 70 alongside Mukesh Kumar of Mhow at 12-under-204.

Also read: Fatal half step forward on a golf course

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