Shubhankar Sharma misses out on PGA Tour card
Shubhankar Sharma has failed to achieve the required position in the final leg of the Korn Ferry Tour to earn his rights to play the next season’s PGA Tour as a full member. Although he had a good end to the tournament, the damage had already been done as he ended at a disappointing 46th.
Shubhankar Sharma concluded the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour on a heartbreaking note as he finished tied at 46th in the final leg of the Championship, thereby losing access to the PGA Tour card he was hopeful of.
The 23-year-old had got off to an impressive start on day one of the event as he shot six-under 66. He went on to have a decent second round and kept his hopes alive of a strong finish but a dismal third day where he recorded a lowly 77 practically put an end to his chances of making to the PGA Tour.
He ended the competition on a high, shooting three birdies, two bogeys as well as an eagle in the final round which accumulated to three-under 69, taking his final score to four-under 284. This saw him finish T-46, much below the solitary sixth spot which was required to seal his PGA Tour Card. He had previously missed the cut on the preceding two events of the championship.
This left compatriot Anirban Lahiri as the only countryman to qualify for the PGA Tour through the KFT Tour after he finished a tied-10th in the final list despite missing the final event to help his family deal with hurricane Dorian. However, even he is on the exempt list and might have to miss out on the major events such as the Players unless he puts in a few good performances before it.
Shubhankar Sharma is only the fourth Indian to have won the Masters and has a couple of Asian and European Tour victories each to his name. He will have to concentrate on improving upon his current world ranking of 259 while taking part in the European Tour and the occasional PGA Tour events in case he gets invited for the same.