Gurugram: Shubhankar Sharma believes that his eight-year title drought since his breakthrough double win on the European tour in 2017-18 is not about eroded abilities and that he is confident one good tournament can lift his career again.
The focus on Sharma is that much more because no Indian has won on the DP World Tour since his exploits as a 21-year-old, winning the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship.
“Golf is such a game that one week can change everything,” Sharma told the media on Wednesday as prepared to tee off in the Hero Indian Open at the tough DLF Golf and Country Club course here. While Sharma retained his DP World Tour card by coming through the Q-School, seated next to him was childhood friend Yuvraj Sandhu, 29, who earned the card as last season’s money list topper of the Indian tour (PGTI).
Finishing tied eighth in the 2023 Open Championship on a rain-swept Royal Liverpool course was a shining example of what Sharma is capable of achieving, but he has also had to carry the weight as none of his compatriots have won on the tour.
“I’ve had a decent run on tour, but the last few years, especially last year, wasn’t easy with all the changes with the clubs. I just couldn’t get any momentum. But I feel like I’m always excited to go and see what is possible and that’s what keeps me going,” he said.
“I still feel young, I’m not 30 yet, so I still have plenty of juice in me. And also, when I draw upon previous experiences of wins, it just gives me confidence that I have done it and can do it again.”
Sharma’s best in the Indian Open was tied-seventh in 2018. He was T31 and T43 in 2024 and 2025.
“It’s the conversations you have in your mind and the trust that you have in your head that you exude on the golf course that takes you forward.”
Indian players who have got into DP World via the PGTI Order of Merit route have not managed to retain the card. Sandhu is hopeful he can stop that sequence. Last year, he won seven tournaments on the domestic tour, with top-10 finishes in 14 of 19 events. But the step up in Europe has been a test, missing the cut in the four events he has played so far.
Adjusting to the longer courses on the European tour which also demands a switch “from wedges to mid-irons”, has been a big challenge. Adapting will be the key, Sandhu said. “…and how we feel mentally, of course, because anything that you overanalyse is not going to help you at the end of the day.”
The key to achieving the step up is emulating the methods of the world’s best players. “It is just that you have to be much smarter, you have to be conserving energy but doing exactly what needs to be done in a shorter period, but as smartly as you can. Building on that off the golf course is much more important because that helps you get that work done on the course.”
