Shubhankar Sharma would be the solely Indian passport holder teeing off on the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon, Scotland on Thursday at the same time as a number of Indian-origin gamers, together with Akshay Bhatia, would purpose to carry aloft the Claret Jug on the oldest Main over the weekend. Final yr Sharma completed tied-eighth at Royal Liverpool for the all-time end by an Indian on the British Open. Aside from Sharma, the opposite Indian contact at Liverpool was Sahith Theegala, who missed the lower. Nonetheless, this time round, there’s a sturdy Indian flavour within the discipline, together with Theegala, one of the vital thrilling younger stars, Bhatia, the left-hander who defied the favored norm of enjoying faculty earlier than turning professional, and Aaron Rai, whose behavior of sporting gloves on each palms, turns head within the {golfing} world.
The trio of Theegala, Bhatia and Rai, all have Indian blood in them, although the primary two characterize america and the third is now an Englishman.
Theegala’s mother and father grew up in Hyderabad, earlier than making US their residence, the place their son turned a wonderful {golfing} prospect as he swept all prestigious awards on the collegiate stage. Now, he’s world No. 11 and on the doorsteps of a brand new milestone of being the top-10 participant on this planet.
Bhatia selected a distinct path. Bypassing faculty golf after a chat with Phil Mickelson, the golfer, whose mother and father got here from North India, went to mini Tour occasions, earlier than profitable on the Korn Ferry and at last making his manner into the primary PGA Tour.
Bhatia has now gained twice on the PGA Tour and Mickelson speaks glowingly about this left-hander who has typically stated that his idol is ‘Lefty’ the person who has six Majors and now performs on the Liv Golf League.
Bhatia, who earned his manner into the Masters by profitable every week earlier than the primary Main of the yr, completed T-35 at Augusta, however missed the lower at PGA. He was then T-16 on the US Open.
He has been a constant performer this yr. He has one win, two different top-10s and 7 extra finishes in top-20 out of a complete of 20 begins. After beginning the yr in a hundred and tenth place on this planet, he’s now twenty sixth and climbing.
And at last, Rai. The Wolverhampton lad’s mother and father grew up in Kenya and their mother and father had been born in India. Rai speaks fondly of his go to to India for the 2018 Hero Indian Open the place he completed tied-ninth.
Rai has been within the top-7 in his final three begins on the PGA Tour at the same time as he searches for his first win. General, he has 5 finishes in top-7 and three different top-20 finishes in 19 begins in 2024, and is now at a career-best forty fifth place in world rankings.
An excellent variety of Indian golf followers will preserve a watch not solely on Sharma, but additionally on Indian-People Theegala and Bhatia, and Rai, the Brit with an Indian heritage.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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