Shubhankar Sharma returns to PGTI, breaks title drought in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: India's top golfer Shubhankar Sharma returned to the PGTI after four and a half years to win his first professional tournament in eight years, clinching the Boulders Classic at the Boulder Hills Golf Club here on Friday.

Shubhankar, who is busy playing on the DP World Tour and has struggled to make cuts there, carded an astounding 25-under 263 (66-66-64-67) for four days as he left the pack way behind. Shubhankar's nearest rivals were the trio of local boy Mohammed Azhar, Angad Cheema and Rashid Khan who ended tied second at 17 under 271 to walk away with the runners-up cheque of Rs 10 lakh.

Shubhankar's last professional title came way back in 2018.

Coming into Day 4 at 20-under, Shubhankar enjoyed a flawless front nine, carding three birdies. The first one came on the second hole, the next two came on the fifth and seventh holes before he closed the first nine with even par on the eighth and ninth.

The successful first half allowed him to further cement his position and take stranglehold of the top spot.

Shubhankar began his back nine with a birdie on the 10th. A drop shot on the par 4 12th hole got him a bogey, pushing him down to 23-under. The bogey, however, proved to be just a blip due to the big lead he had opened up. He got two more birdies, on the 14th and 17th holes, to end the tournament at 25-under 271, eight strokes clear of his nearest rivals, Azhar, Angad and Rashid.

Over the course of four days here, Shubhankar carded 28 birdies as well as an eagle. This was his first tournament on PGTI in four and a half years and he exposed the gulf between him and the rest of the field.

His winning total set a new benchmark for the lowest aggregate score on the DP World PGTI.

The victory earned Shubhankar Rs 15 lakh and marked his first win on the tour since the McLeod Russel Tour Championship in Kolkata in December 2017. It was also his first professional title worldwide in over eight years. The last one came at the Maybank Championship, a co-sanctioned event on the DP World Tour and Asian Tour in February 2018.

Sharma’s winning total of 25-under eclipsed the previous record of 24-under 264, held by Anirban Lahiri (2010), Rashid Khan (2019), Akshay Sharma (2020), and Manu Gandas (2022).

Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar (67-70-69-65), Delhi’s Rashid Khan (67-70-66-68), and Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (68-69-66-68) shared second place at 17-under 271, finishing eight shots behind the winner.

Ajeetesh Sandhu, who missed a birdie on the last hole, ended in sole fifth place at 16-under 272.

Speaking about his return to the tour, he said, “Coming back feels very comforting. The week went by smoothly and I’m happy to be playing the way I believe I can.”

He also had praise for the venue Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club, adding, “It’s a very good course with a lot of potential. The greens were on the softer side this week, which made it more of a scoring layout, but it can play much tougher with firmer conditions.”

Khalin Joshi (73-69-69-67), a winner last week in Visakhapatnam, finished tied 12th at 10-under 278.

Tags : Shubhankar Sharma, PGTI, Rashid Khan, Golf, Azhar