Shubhankar Sharma joins global star cast at DP World India Championship

New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) Two-time DP World Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma will lead the home charge when he joins global stars Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood at the USD 4 million DP World India Championship here from October 16-19.

Sharma, who enjoyed a recent career highlight by representing the country at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, became the youngest Indian player to win on the DP World Tour when he claimed the Joburg Open title in December 2017, aged just 21.

He lifted a second trophy two months later after carding a sublime final round of 62 to win the Maybank Championship, and capped off the season by claiming the 2018 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award and topping the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

The 29-year-old has also recorded six wins on the Professional Golf Tour of India, and boasts a Major Championship top 10, following his impressive tied 8th finish in The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023.

Sharma joins reigning Masters champion and career grand slam winner McIlroy and his Europe Ryder Cup team mate Fleetwood, who is also a seven-time DP World Tour winner, Olympic silver medallist and newly- crowned FedExCup champion, in the inaugural DP World India Championship at the Delhi Golf Club.

Global smart logistics provider DP World and the DP World Tour launched the DP World India Championship this season.

Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the tournament features the largest prize fund ever offered for a DP World Tour event in India, with an exciting field set to join Sharma, Fleetwood and McIlroy.

Sharma said: "We're all very excited about the DP World India Championship. I can't wait to get back to Delhi Golf Club. It's a historic course - I played there a lot as a junior and have very fond memories. It's a tough course, it's iconic, and I'm sure the DP World Tour players who have played there will remember it well.

"Having players like Rory McIlroy as the reigning Masters champion and the FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood coming to the event, things like this can change golf in India.

"I remember Tiger Woods playing an exhibition match many years ago and the impact walking with him had on me, so to have such an incredible field coming to the country will make this event really special." The upcoming tournament underscores India's growing influence as a destination for elite golf and as a strategic market for DP World. The new tournament follows the success of the 2025 Hero Indian Open, won by Eugenio Chacarra, and further boosts the Tour's momentum in the region.

The tournament will be the eighth of nine events in the 'Back 9' phase of the 2025 Race to Dubai, building towards the season-ending DP World Tour play-offs and culminating in the DP World Tour Championship in November at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. PTI Cor AH AH