New Delhi: Shubhankar Sharma emerged as the 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion following a dream season which saw him achieve many milestones and rewrite many Indian records.
The 22-year-old Chandigarh-based Sharma now becomes the fifth and youngest Indian to top the Asian Tour money list in a particular season. He joins the exclusive club of Indians who have achieved the feat in the past — Jyoti Randhawa (2002), Arjun Atwal (2003), Jeev Milkha Singh (2006 and 2008) and Anirban Lahiri (2015).
The merit race got intense following the outstanding performances by Korea’s Park Sang-hyun and South Africa’s Justin Harding on Tour. However, Sharma inched closer to the coveted trophy after he finished tied sixth at the Honma Hong Kong Open in November.
With Park not playing and Harding missing the cut at the South African Open this week, Sharma took an unassailable lead on the merit list with just the season-ending Indonesian Masters left to play.
As it stands at the moment, Shubhankar has season’s earnings of $755,994 (Dh2.8 million) while second-placed Park has earnings of $561,898 and third-placed Justin Harding has earnings of $479,816. Interestingly, India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar is placed fourth at $422,935 and is in line to improve on his career-best fifth place finish on the money list.
Outside the Asian Tour, Sharma has a top-10 at the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship to his name, he played all four Majors and all four WGC events this year and he also clinched the European Tour Rookie of the Year award after finishing a creditable 28th in the Race to Dubai standings.
Shubhankar said, “I’m really happy with what has happened to me. Obviously, the Asian Tour played a big role, as the Tour has given me the chance to compete and helped me develop my game to my current level.
“This year has been a huge learning curve for me. I’ve played in some of the biggest events I could ever imagine and learnt a lot. I know I have the game to be among the best in the world and I just want to keep playing well and give my best shot.”
