Young stars fancy chances at Indian Open

Next week’s Hero Indian Open boasts one of its strongest-ever line-up, with three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington and defending champion Anriban Lahiri confirming participation, but some home-grown youngsters quietly fancy their chances at the country’s only co-sanctioned European Tour tournament.

With impressive domestic seasons behind them, Shubhankar Sharma and Ajeetesh Sandhu are among those hoping to make it big at the national open, to be staged at the venerable Delhi Golf Club course from March 17 to 20.

Shubhankar, who earned his Asian Tour card in January, won last month’s PGTI Players Championship, finished second at the Golconda Masters the following week, besides a top-5 finish at the Asian Tour-sanctioned Bangladesh Open.

Meanwhile, Sandhu — whose last pro victory came in 2012 at the DLF Masters — registered a wire-to-wire finish at the Golconda Masters in Hyderabad.

Inspired by the fighting spirit of tennis star Novak Djokovic, Shubhankar says he will not be intimidated by the presence of a strong field and believes he has a good chance at the DGC.

“My ball striking has been consistent in the past few months. Also I have always come up with good performances at this course. There is no undue pressure on me,” the 19-year-old said.

Both players, coached by Jesse Grewal, credited their current form to a 45-day stint at the US last summer, where they played in 15 golf course over seven cities alongside nine others.

“It was quite an amazing experience. The tour was a great learning experience and my game only got better after the trip — especially my iron play,” the Gurgaon-based Shubhankar said.

“We were exposed to different courses, conditions, greens and turfs. And playing there added to our experience and confidence.”

On his goals, the youngest winner on the PGTI added: “What Anirban had done is fantastic. Playing on the PGA Tour is definitely my goal, but for now I am looking to get into the top-50.”

Chandigarh-based Sandhu said changing his equipment during the stint — he got a new set of irons — has helped him strike better.

“The tour was a good decision as we got to play so many courses. We had really good competition there. My ball striking and putting have improved a lot since then. I have been hitting much straighter now.

“Absolutely,” Sandhu said when asked if he would have a chance at the Indian Open. “A good finish next week will open up a lot of opportunities for me.”