Shubhankar Sharma and Manu Gandas
Abu Dhabi, Jan 17: Shubhankar Sharma is back for a sixth time at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, an event he came within one shot of winning last year. He may well have been in a play-off but for a late bogey on the 71st of the week. Now, he wants another crack at this level, as he gets ready for the two elite Rolex Series events in the Desert Swing.
The 26-year-old Sharma loves these two weeks at the Abu Dhabi HSBC and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic next week. “I have been coming here for past five years. This will be my sixth start at both. A good start here can set up the year so well,” he says.
There is something else that he is looking forward to – having more Indian colleagues on the DP World Tour. “I am looking forward to having Manu Gandas, who topped the PGTI Order of Merit and earned a DP World Tour membership. It came at the right time as the PGTI signed a historic deal with DP World and PGA Tour.
“I played a lot of junior golf with Manu. He is around the same age as me. Over the last few years since I started playing outside, I have not played much with him. But what a season he had – six wins. Also, Yuvraj Sandhu, who I still play with when I am in Chandigarh had a superb season. Between them they won 11 times in India in 2022. That is incredible.”
Calling the Indian PGTI’s deal with DP World and PGA Tour as historic, Sharma added, “This will be a gamechanger. Having one spot (for the PGTI Order of Merit topper) on the DP World Tour is great. Plus, we have more investment on the game for PGTI an d that is great.
“Having players play for more money is always good, but the real return is going to be when the 30th Rank player is making more money. I hope the partner will grow and become bigger. It is a three-year deal.
“It will give our guys a great opportunity. This year it is Manu and in the next two years two more will come. There is also one player going to final stage of the Q-School final stage. In time we will have many more Indians here.”
There is the PGA Tour’s deal with the DP World which will give immediate access to the PGA Tour for the leading 10 players, excluding those already on the PGA Tour.
Sharma has his eye on that, too. “Yes, that is a possible path for me. For that I must be consistent. That arrangement between the PGA and the DP World Tour is also great.”
Sharma, who was tied second at Abu in 2022, concluded, “It (2022) was obviously a very inconsistent season, because the start was good. And then in the middle part I was struggling with a lot of different things; I was going through with club issues and for a few weeks my back was giving me trouble. I also had Covid. So there was a bit of everything. But I will still say I ended the season really well. And I got into the Open which was obviously a cherry on the cake. But, yes, I want to be more consistent this year, which will just give me more mental peace.”
He now has a chance to change it all.
