Shubhankar to Represent India at ISPA Handa World Cup of Golf
Shubhankar Sharma is set to make his debut at the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf later this year as he was one of the first 28 players announced by tournament officials Friday.
Melbourne, Sep 14 (PTI) Shubhankar Sharma is set to make his debut at the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf later this year as he was one of the first 28 players announced by tournament officials Friday.
To be held at The Metropolitan Golf Club from November 22 to 25, the 59th ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf will see 56 players vie for the largest prize-money purse in Australian golf, with USD 7 million on offer.
"I'm really excited to qualify for my first World Cup of Golf at The Metropolitan. Since the start of the year, I made this event as one of my goals to try and qualify as it has so much history, tradition and a wonderful list of past champions which include many of the great names and legends in golf," said Sharma.
"To have the opportunity to represent India at a prestigious event like this is truly an honour and I will be give it everything to try and win the World Cup for my country. We don't get too many opportunities to play for our nation, so it's going to be fun with whoever I pick as my partner when we get down to Australia."
The 22-year-old Sharma has recent wins at the 2017 Joburg Open and 2018 Maybank Championship, and this week sits at No. 105 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
He also carded a pair of top-25 finishes on the PGA TOUR this season, most notably a tie for ninth at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in March where he led into the final round.
India first competed in the World Cup in 1969, with Shadi Lal and Ryda Valjii in the team. India's best finish in the tournament came in 2005, in Portugal, when the team of Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa finished ninth.
The committed player from each of the top 28 countries has until 5 pm USA eastern time on September 20 to choose his partner for the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf. The field of 56 players will be final as of September 20.
The 72-hole stroke play team format will feature Four-ball (best ball) play in the first and third rounds and Foursomes (alternate shot) play in the second and final rounds.
In 2016, Danes Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen shot a final-round 66 in foursomes at Kingston Heath to win Denmark's first World Cup of Golf title by four strokes over the United States, China and France.
The 2018 ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf is a 72-hole, two-man team format, and affords the opportunity for the top players in the game to represent their countries on an international stage.
The first and third days of competition are four-ball (best ball) format and the second and final days are foursomes (alternate shot) play.
The 2018 event marks the sixth time in the tournament's history that it has been played in Australia and the third consecutive in the Melbourne Sandbelt region.
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