12 June 2018: It took more than a century for an Indian golfer to compete in one of the majors. But since Gaurav Ghei opened the door in 1997, there has been a steady stream of golfers making the annual pilgrimages across the globe to play one of the four major tournaments in golf. The US Open this week will feature India’s rising star Shubhankar Sharma.
When Shubhankar tees off at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Long Island, it will be the 46th instance of an Indian golfer playing a major tournament.
Jeev Milkha Singh became the first Indian to play the US Open when he made his major debut in 2002. Shiv Kapur played exceptionally well in 2014 before ending the week in T23rd.
Anirban Lahiri eclipsed the T9 finish of Jeev at the PGA Championship in 2008 with a T5 at Whistling Straits in 2015. Those performances remain the benchmark for Indian golfers at major tournaments.
Shubhankar, the youngest Indian to play a major, will be determined to put in a good show this week. In part, Shubhankar will look to erase the memory of a missed cut at Augusta. He will also be equally determined to produce some good golf in a tournament he has coveted.
It took Shubhankar three attempts to qualify for the US Open, coming through the sectionals, with his ranking well outside the top 60.
The course at Shinnecock Hills is considered one of the best examinations for a golfer, anywhere in the world. The uneven lies and testing greens are made trickier with the help of the wind.
Shubhankar will need consistency with his irons and a steady hand on the greens to try and pull together a good result this week. This will India’s eleventh showing at the US Open, with Jeev accounting for five of those appearances.
In the past instances of Indians playing at the US Open, they made the weekend in only four of those ten appearances. Shubhankar, a two time winner on the European Tour this season, will seek to record a memorable performance competing against the best in the world.
