Shubhankar Sharma set for major debut in the Masters

31 March 2018: On the cover of Shubhankar Sharma’s twitter page is a grainy old image. With the Big Easy watching intently, a ten-year-old boy is in the thick of his swing at a youth clinic in Delhi. Nearly a decade later, Shubhankar and Ernie Els will meet at the Masters in Augusta, as special invitees of the Augusta National Golf Club. At contrasting ends of their career, life comes a full circle for the two men when they cross paths at the iconic temple of golf.

“I was a kid and went for a golf clinic after one of his rounds. Ernie called out a few kids to hit a few shots and I was one of them. We were using his nine iron and as kids, it was really heavy for us and nobody could really hit it good.

“I was the last kid and he came over and told me I’ve got to hit the ball in the centre of the clubface and showed me how to hold the club,” reminisced Sharma with the media recently.

“I went on to hit two great shots, which went towards the 100-yard marker. That was one of the best memories I have of Ernie and he was kind enough to give me his card and after signing it, he said I’ll be a great player one day if I kept practicing. And for a kid like me who was only 10 at that time, it just made my day.”

The four-time major winner was twice runner-up in the Masters and will be on hand to offer some tips for the young Indian. The 48-year-old South African was T49 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T64 in the Valspar Championship, recently.

When Shubhankar tees off on Thursday, it will mark only the seventh instance of an Indian golfer playing at the Masters. Jeev Milkha Singh (2007, 2008, 2009), Arjun Atwal (2011) and Anirban Lahiri (2015, 2016) are the only other Indians to have played the event.

It is interesting that Shubhankar has endured a couple of rough weeks in the WGC Dell Match Play and then the Houston Open. He has missed the cut with scores of 73 and 70 in Houston this week, on the back of three straight losses in group 7 of match play last week.

But that shouldn’t be a reason for concern. Shubhankar missed cuts in the Oman Open and Qatar Masters before he arrived in Mexico. He caught the eyes of the world in the WGC Mexico Championship, with a stunning effort that gave him a two-stroke lead into the final round.

There aren’t many bigger stages in golf than the iconic club in Augusta. The gravity of the stage should bring out the best in the inspired young man.

Get set for a week of sleep-deprived pleasures as Shubhankar sets out to conquer the world. Golfing Indian will be on the grounds in Augusta bringing you the very best of the action from the Masters.