{"id":275251,"date":"2025-04-06T06:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T06:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/shubhankar-sharma-brings-his-a-game-to-record-best-finish-by-an-indian-at-the-open\/"},"modified":"2025-04-06T06:03:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T06:03:25","slug":"shubhankar-sharma-brings-his-a-game-to-record-best-finish-by-an-indian-at-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/shubhankar-sharma-brings-his-a-game-to-record-best-finish-by-an-indian-at-the-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Shubhankar Sharma brings his \u2018A\u2019 game to record best finish by an Indian at The Open"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shubhankar<\/div>


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It\u2019s cold, the wind is picking up, it\u2019s raining, and the lone Indian grinding it out on a century-old British course is mentally working out the physics and geometry of golf.<\/p>\n

Shubhankar Sharma takes a step to the left, another to the right, then stands right behind the ball, squinting at the hole that\u2019s 36 feet away. He\u2019s reading lines, mapping angles, studying slopes, and figuring out the force needed to make the ball roll over the heavy, deceptive green and sink a sinuous putt.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Open tests your imagination,\u201d Shubhankar\u2019s father Mohan Lal says. \u201cAnd it suits Shubhankar. He is an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the last four days, the \u2018artist\u2019 was at the top of his art. Shubhankar opts for a stinger \u2013 a low, powerful shot with plenty of forward spin. And the outcome is a miraculous 36-feet putt. The ball embarks on a trajectory that\u2019s at least a foot to the left of the hole as it runs down the slope of the Royal Liverpool course with considerable velocity.<\/p>\n

\"SHUBHANKAR<\/p>\n

For a moment, it threatens to go past the hole before slowing down suddenly, takes a sharp left turn, hangs agonisingly on the edge of the cup and at last, drops in for an unbelievable eagle on the fifth hole during Round 3 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The audacity of the shot left even Major winner and former world number one Jason Day amazed. \u201cWe did like a fist pump,\u201d Shubhankar said later. \u201cHe was like, \u2018thanks for the line\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Perfectly judged.<\/p>\n

As the rain starts to fall, Shubhankar Sharma makes a move with an eagle. pic.twitter.com\/ILDY3yXMkA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Open (@TheOpen) July 22, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was this combination of courageous shot making, ability to grind and staying calm while battling nature\u2019s elements that led Shubhankar to record the highest finish by an Indian at The Open, the oldest golf tournament in the world, on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Shubhankar finished tied 8th at Hoylake with a total of five-under, bettering Jyoti Randhawa\u2019s tied 27th in 2004. It\u2019s also the second-best result by an Indian at a Major, behind Anirban Lahiri\u2019s tied-fifth finish at the PGA Championship in 2015.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTake a bow, Shubhankar,\u201d Lahiri tweeted. \u201cI hope youngsters back home stayed up and watched.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had they indeed stayed up and watched, the young Indians would have seen one of them dishing out a fine exhibition of gritty golf in testing conditions. Especially on Sunday, when it poured all day and Shubhankar was the only player in a star-studded field to enjoy a bogey-free round, recording 17 pars and a birdie on the 15th.<\/p>\n

All this, as he celebrated his 27th birthday bang in the middle of the tournament by feasting on the humble rajma chawal, and being surrounded by his entire family, who had rented an apartment five minutes away from the course, and not too far away from the fabled Penny Lane.<\/p>\n

Timely boost<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Shubhankar, who jumped 111 spots on the world rankings table to 165, last weekend could be a springboard he sorely needed after seemingly stagnating. He emerged on the scene as an ambitious 21-year-old who won twice on the World Tour, finished tied 9th at a World Golf Championship event in Mexico, was the youngest in the world\u2019s top-100 and briefly led the European Tour rankings during three dizzying months in 2018.<\/p>\n

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Since then, his career has been a staccato. In the four tournaments heading into The Open, Shubhankar missed the cut in three and finished 58th at the Scandinavian Mixed in Stockholm last month.<\/p>\n

In Liverpool, \u2018everything fell into place\u2019 just at the right time, his coach Jesse Grewal says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time,\u201d Grewal tells The Indian Express<\/a><\/em>, \u201cwhat we did differently was to come here a month ago to prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grewal says that usually for Majors, they reached the venue on a Sunday, trained Monday onwards and began competing on Thursday. \u201cThis time, we decided to prepare beforehand to understand the course well. So, we came here in June and had three practice rounds. It helped us make a plan of what to do on every hole. We had a clear idea of what we were going to do,\u201d Grewal says.<\/p>\n

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A lot of emphasis was laid on Shubhankar\u2019s putting game, Grewal adds. But the conditions were different last week compared to June, when it was dry. \u201cThis time, the ball wasn\u2019t rolling much on the fairways and the greens were slow. So, he had to get his yardage right. To his credit, his mind is clear on what he has to do and it all sort of came together during the tournament despite the conditions being difficult,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The prep before the tournament was complemented by the calming influence of his parents and sister, who\u2019d come to Liverpool and walked with him for the 72 holes. A quintessential family man, Shubhankar felt \u2018relaxed\u2019 with everyone around, his father says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not seen him play better golf than he did this week, especially Sunday,\u201d Mohan Lal says. \u201cThis is definitely the toughest tournament because the venue keeps changing and the golf is on links courses. They are natural courses; not artificially made. This is exemplified by their locations \u2013 beaches, wind, rain, sloping greens, steep bunkers and what not. In the US, it is mostly about the method. Here, it is more about imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the artist let his imagination run wild. The 36-feet putt was a testimony to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n