Recognition
The Indian Golf Union (IGU) has nominated 24-year-old Shubhankar Sharma for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Udayan Mane, Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan & LET winner Diksha Dagar for the Arjuna Award.
Shubhankar Sharma became the youngest Indian winner on the European Tour when he claimed the US$ 1.1mn Joburg Open in December 2017 and followed it with a win at the US$ 3mn Maybank Championship in February 2018 in Malaysia which earned him the European Tour’s 2018 Rookie of the Year Award and the No 1 rank on the Asian Tour 2018 Order of Merit.
Udayan Mane has recorded multiple victories on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), whereas Rashid Khan has won the PGTI’s Order of Merit three times and two Asian Tour titles. His 2019 earnings of ₹66 lacs was an all-time record on the tour helped by two wins, eight other top-10s including the Asian Tour’s Classic and 10th place on the European Tour’s Hero Indian Open.
Diksha Dagar, at age 18, became only the second Indian after Aditi Ashok, to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) with her triumph in the 2019 South African Open and recently recorded a 4th place finish at the 2021 Czech Open.