Golf
Shubhankar Sharma roars back, makes cut
Rahil Gangjee, who was the best Indian on the first day, had a poor Day 2 as he went four-over to miss cut and crash out
Khurram Habib
A sports journalist for 23 years now, having written extensively on cricket, golf, Formula One among other sports. Have also manned desks, sports and otherwise.
17 Oct, 2025
New Delhi: Rahil Gangjee was bobbing among the top five with 5-under 67 after the end of Day One’s play of the DP World India Championship on Thursday. But a 4-over 76 on Friday pushed him down to Tied-67 and out of competition with missed cut.
Shubhankar Sharma, who was Tied-99 after Thursday’s play after carding two-over, returned with 6-under 66 to move to four-under for two days and make cut for the weekend rounds.
This lack of consistency has been the story of Indian golfers.
The Chandigarh-lad leads a group of five Indian golfers into the final phase.
Shubhankar picked three birdies on each of the nines. He was Tied-32nd, while Dhruv Sheoran (68-73), Shiv Kapur (72-69) and Anirban Lahiri (70-71) were 3-under for 36 holes and Tied-41st. Abhinav Lohan (70-72) in Tied-58th place has also made cut.
Shubhankar credited sleep for his performance. He had gotten very tired towards the end of the first day and hence made mistakes. But on Friday he had come relaxed and well-slept.
“Yesterday I got off to a good start but just was very tired and made some tired swings coming in. So I slept a lot last night and in the afternoon it all worked out. I was feeling a lot more fresh (0:23) and yeah, it panned out well. I hit it really good, putting was good, mind was clearer and till the end I was in it, so I'm really happy,” said Shubhankar to the media after the end of the second day’s play.
For Shubhankar, this tournament assumed great importance. He has made cut in only five of the 25 starts prior to this. So this has made him “really, really happy”.
“Yesterday, even though I got off to a good start, I knew I was slightly edgy and that showed in the end when I dropped those shots.
“In golf it's always very small things. There's not much difference in my game but it's just that my mentality was different today. I was a lot more relaxed, well rested.”
Shubhankar had been trying to find his rhythm for the past six months and that has included changing his clubs. Who knows, this could be a new start.
Tags : Shubhankar Sharma, Golf, DP World India Championship, Rahil Gangjee, Dhruv Sheoran