Shubhankar Sharma (born 21 July 1996) is an Indian professional golfer. In December 2017, he recorded his first tour win in the Joburg Open and followed this with a second win at the Maybank Championship in February 2018. He studied at Bal Bhawan School, Bhopal.
Sharma started 2017 finishing fourth in the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open and in the top-10 in the Maybank Championship, an event co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
After these two events in February it was not until November that he showed a return to form with a top-10 finish in the UBS Hong Kong Open, another event co-sanctioned with the European Tour.[3]
Two weeks later he came to more notice in the Joburg Open where a second round of 61, followed by a 65, gave him a five-stroke lead at the start of the last round.[4] The final round was delayed by bad weather but Sharma finished with a 69 for a three-stroke win over Erik van Rooyen. The event was part of the Open Qualifying Series and the win gave him an entry to the 2018 Open Championship.[5] The win also earned him full membership of the European Tour.
Sharma had a final round 62 to win the Maybank Championship in February 2018, an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, two ahead of Jorge Campillo.[6] The win lifted him into the world top-100 for the first time. He also took an early lead in the European Tour's Race to Dubai, earning a place in the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship in March. At the WGC-Mexico Championship Sharma held the lead after the second and third rounds. However, he faltered with a final-round 74 and finished the tournament in a tie for ninth place. It was his first start in a PGA Tour event. Two days after the tournament he received an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament, his first major championship appearance and the fourth Indian to play in the Masters, Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Anirban Lahiri were the previous three to play.[7]
Personal life
Sharma is a strict vegetarian for ethical and religious reasons, who has stated that he has never consumed meat in his life.[8] He is also allergic to gluten.[8]