Photo: Aman Gupta Instagram
Global Indians
In an interesting turn of events for the Indian Golf Union’s selection committee, 22-year-old American of Indian origin, Aman Gupta, playing at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and ranked 72nd on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), has opted to pursue competitive golf under the Indian flag, starting with the upcoming Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship scheduled for November in Dubai.
A semi-finalist at the 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship, Gupta is currently in his final year at OSU and plans to turn pro by mid 2022.
OSU, probably the most successful team in the history of US college golf, also boasts of alumni and PGA Tour winners such as Rickie Fowler, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein.
Gupta, born in South Carolina, is an American, but also holds an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card, which gave him an opportunity to play for India. His father, Kapil, hails from Amritsar and his mother Aradhana from Mumbai.
Gupta is hoping to represent India at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), the premier amateur tournament for the region, with the winner getting invitations to play in The Masters at Augusta National and Open next year.
It remains to be seen if he will be nominated for the event by the Indian Golf Union or if his entry is automatic based on his amateur world ranking being the best of any Indian player.