When Shubhankar Sharma made his daily call to his father on Friday evening, Colonel Mohan Sharma apprised his son of the situation he was in.
Playing in the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, the 21-year-old Shubhankar was tied 51st after posting scores of 70 and 69. "In the European Tour, it is about having two excellent days together. He had had two good rounds but nothing spectacular. He was focused but he didn't seem to be worried about it at all," his father says.
On the weekend, Shubhankar would justify his calm approach. A score of 66 on Saturday brought him to within 4 strokes of the lead. On Sunday he would shoot 10 birdies in a sizzling closing round of 10-under-par 62 to aggregate 21-under for the tournament, finishing two strokes ahead of the pack. It had not been the easiest of rounds.
"I played pretty solid and it wasn't easy because it was windy," Shubhankar was quoted as saying. The victory was his second on the European Tour. The paycheque of euro 400, 930 is also his richest prize till date. It's likely to catapult his World Rank, currently 193, to around the 70 mark and make him the highest ranked Indian golfer.
It has been an explosive rise for Shubhankar. When he won the Jo'burg Open in December last year, the 21-years old had become the youngest Indian winner on the European Tour. Yet, if success appears to have come early for Shubhankar, his father at least won't necessarily have to agree.
"He started playing at seven when he accompanied me to the Army course in Wellington. So when you think about it he is veteran of 13 years," says Col Sharma. "When he started, the golf club was nearly as big as him. At first I would wonder how he would even be able to swing it. I would give him a 36-stroke handicap to start with. It took him a couple years to make it close but by the time he was 12 or 13 he was beating me without a problem."
These early years have shaped him. "It wasn't easy being the son of an Army man," says his father. "Every time I got a posting-Wellington, Bhopal or wherever -- he would be playing on a different course."
Those early courses didn't have the manicured greens he now plays on in the professional tour. "You know how Army courses are. You can't compare it to the courses in Europe. It isn't as smooth and sometimes there will be people who will be playing other sports. But I think that helped Shubhankar improve his own game. He got used to playing in very difficult conditions."
In hindsight, perhaps, Shubhankar was destined for golfing success. "It wasn't just that he was disciplined. He was always really driven. That's what set him apart. If I asked him to run eight laps of a field for his fitness, he would run nine. At every moment he got, I would see him on the course. He was always really focused on playing. I don't think one week has gone past when he has not held a golf stick and been practicing. He could be having exams or it could be raining and he would be out on the range."
It didn't come as much of a surprise when at 16, Shubhankar had already won the Indian amateur title. What was unusual though was his decision to turn professional immediately after. "He knew the move up from amateur golf to professional is a big step. And the move to the European tour is a jump of maybe two steps together. But he always had that self-belief in himself."
Expectations on the youngster would only rise after his recent performances. He has already earned a two-year exemption on the European tour and has also qualified for the British Open by virtue of his win at the Jo'Burg Open. According to his father though, the youngster is more than capable of dealing with the pressure.
"He will be taking a break after this tournament. But when he gets back, he is completely obsessed about it. He is very quiet off the course but on it he knows how to stay focused. It's quite normal for him now."
