Mar 06, 2018: The climber in Shubhankar Sharma seems to discover a new peak each time he scales a mountain. After giving us an exhilarating ride to Citlaltépetl last week, Sharma is all set to march us to the top of Denali in April. The 21-year-old is all set to make his major debut, as he has received and accepted an invite to play in the Masters, in just three weeks from now.
Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, announced today that Shubhankar Sharma has accepted an invitation to compete in the 2018 Masters. A 21-year-old from India, Sharma will be making his first appearance in the Tournament.
“Golf is a global game, and throughout our history we have extended invitations to deserving international players not otherwise qualified,” Ridley said. “As his results have proven, Shubhankar Sharma is a remarkable young player, and we look forward to welcoming him to Augusta National in April.”
Sharma has won twice in the past four months, at the Joburg Open in December and the Maybank Championship in February. He recently finished T-9 at the WGC-Mexico Championship, holding the lead after 36 and 54 holes. Now ranked No. 66 on the Official World Golf Ranking, the Masters will be the first major championship appearance of his career.
Sharma will become the fourth Indian player to compete in the Masters, following Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, and Anirban Lahiri. He will also become the youngest Indian to have ever played in a major tournament.
“I am deeply honoured to be found worthy of invitation by the Masters Committee. It’s a dream come true. My gratitude,” responded Shubhankar to the Masters on twitter.
Two qualification criteria remain active for this year’s Tournament: winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship and the 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the Masters.
The 2018 Tournament will mark the 82nd playing of the Masters and is scheduled for April 2 – 8.
The news will give enormous cheer to Shubhankar’s growing band of fans in India and elsewhere. While there was pride all around at the great performance in Mexico last week, there were commiserations too at the lad missing out on a direct entry to the Masters.
Elation can replace that mood now, with the Masters announcing a special invitation to the young Indian. A good performance in the Hero Indian Open and the Masters in April should be enough to take Shubhankar well inside the top 50. It appears likely now that he could, in fact, become only the third Indian to play all four majors during a season.
