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Shubhankar Sharma aims to carry Joburg Open form into golf year-ender in Kolkata
Shubhankar Sharma, who won the Joburg Open on Monday, will join Jyoti Randhawa, SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan and Shamim Khan among others in Kolkata for the McLeod Russel Tour Championship.
Fresh from winning the Joburg Open, Shubhankar Sharma, 21, will be among the top attractions in the sixth McLeod Russel Tour Championship, the year’s last professional golf tournament in India, which will be played over the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) course from December 21-24.
Everyone in the top 50 in the Order of Merit of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), based on the 17 events held through 2017, will take part in the Rs 1.5 crore prize-money event where the winner gets Rs 2.25 lakh and the last golfer in the 65-player field is assured of Rs 61,500.
There is no cut in this tournament which is also the richest PGTI event.
READ | Shubhankar Sharma wins Joburg Open golf in Monday finish
Delhi’s Shamim Khan, who leads the Order of Merit list with earnings of Rs 40.58 lakh, will be in the field which includes 15 invited players and among them are SSP Chawrasia, the reigning Indian Open champion, Jyoti Randhawa, Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee and S Chikkarangappa.
Chandigarh-based golfer Sharma too is one of those invited, it was announced at a media conference here on Monday.
Sharma, whose win in South Africa also gave him the chance to play next year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland, finished tied 10th here last year.
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Also on the list of invited are Australians Adam Blyth (twice winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia) and Daniel Fox (winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia), Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, who is 24 but won the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in 2013, and Bangladesh’s Mohammad Siddikur Rahman who is a twice winner on the Asian Tour.
Two more players from Japan, Shotaro Wada and Yuwa Kosaihara, too have confirmed as has Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang.
Champ, Atwal to skip
Defending champion Pariya Junhasavasdikul, 33, who became the first foreigner to win this event will not play this time. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO PGTI, said Junhasavasdikul is focusing on being a commercial pilot and has cut down on his golf commitments.
Also missing would be Arjun Atwal who, according to RCGC general committee member Gaurav Ghosh, turned down the invitation because he is moving house in Florida and is busy with preparations for the EurAsia Cup.
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Atwal, who finished second in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open earlier this month, will lead Asia against Europe in that event, to be played in Malaysia from January 12-14.
McLeod Russel Tour Championship Winners
2012 – SSP Chawrasia (9-under-281)
2013 – Anirban Lahiri (17-under-271 – lowest winning score for the event)
2014 – Shankar Das (16-under-272)
2015 – Chikkarangappa (12-under-276)
2016 – Pariya Junhasavasdikul (15-under-273)
