Shubhankar Sharma wins Cochin Masters, becomes youngest-ever PGTI champion

Subhankar Sharma

Shubhankar Sharma has claimed the inaugural PGTI Cochin Masters title at the CIAL Golf Club, Nedumbassery.

The 17-year-old from Gurgaon won the biggest title of his young career against the likes of the highly rated golf veteran Sanjay Kumar and 23-year-old Rashid Khan from Delhi. In doing so, he became the youngest ever to win the accolade beating the record of Bangalore’s S. Chikkarangappa who won the title at 20 years and two months.

Sharma, who had just completed his 12th standard exams, won a handsome sum of 8 lakh rupees along with the title.

The blossoming talent, who idolises Tiger Woods, turned things around in the final round by scoring an eagle on the par-5 16th where he found the green in two and sank an eight-footer. He also converted a birdie from 10 feet on the 14th and another one on the last hole.

“That eagle was the turning point,” Sharma said.

“I’m thrilled with my first win. Winning a title was one of my goals for the season. It’s great to have a title under my belt so early in my professional career,” he said.

“This will help me play more freely now and give me a lot of self-belief,” he added.

This win saw Sharma move up the ladder from 23rd place to fourth in the Rolex rankings and move to the top spot in the PGTI Super Series points table. He edged past Rashid Khan and Sanjay Kumar in the group with a score of 33-37-33-32, totalling nine-under-135 after the duo were running the show for the past couple of days.

His birdie on the final and the 18th was the defining moment that led him to his first title. Now into his second year of his pro tour, Sharma dedicated the victory to his father.

“I was under kind of pressure in the first two days in the shortened format (nine-holes after it rained). I’m really happy that I could win here and I would like to dedicate this my father who travel with me after he retired as I turned pro only an year ago. In the last four days I bogied only once,” he said.

Rashid Khan and Sanjay Kumar finished the tournament as joint runners up with both of them earning a prize money of Rs. 4,35,750 each. The former moved up to fifth place from eighth in the Rolex Rankings while Sanjay climbed to ninth place.

The overnight joint leaders who slipped to a tied second place both scored a 36 in their fourth round. While Sanjay had a birdie and a bogey, Rasheed had a couple of each.