An end of the year win on the Asian Development Tour by Chandigarh’s 26-year-old Karandeep Kochhar somewhat salvaged what was otherwise a bleak year for Indian men on the International circuits.
On the Asian Tour Order of Merit, 37-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar—an 11-time winner on the tour—was the only Indian inside the top 65, finishing 55th. A former Asian Tour winner, Ajeetesh Sandhu finished 77th, marking perhaps cumulatively the worst performance for Indians in the past 30 years on the Asian Tour.
In Europe too, India’s lone flag bearer, Shubhankar Sharma, failed to finish in the top 100 and had to go back to the Qualifying Tournament, where he fortunately played his best week of the year to finish 2nd and return to Europe for 2026. Veer Ahlawat, the other Indian, who had earned his first year in Europe thanks to winning the 2024 PGTI Rankings, failed to impress and could not retain playing status in Europe for 2026.
Anirban Lahiri, finished out of the top 30 on the 2025 LIV Tour rankings, for the first time since he joined the tour but was retained by his team captain, Bryson DeChambeau for 2026.
Fortunately India will have at least six players with Asian Tour playing status in 2026. Kochhar and Bhullar are exempt, while Shaurya Bhattacharya, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan and Shubham Jaglan earned playing rights via the Asian Tour Qualifying Tournament in Thailand in December.
The 26-year-old Kochhar, from Chandigarh, an IGPL winner in Dubai earlier this year and a multiple-time PGTI champion before switching tours, carded rounds of 68-66-65-70 to finish at 19-under at the ADT event in Egypt, holding off England’s Matt Killen. Kochhar earned US$21,875 (₹19.3 lakh) and finished fifth on the Asian Development Tour Rankings—enough to secure full Asian Tour playing rights next season.
Kochhar becomes the third consecutive Indian to graduate to the Asian Tour via the ADT tour, following Yuvraj Sandhu in 2023 and Rahil Gangjee in 2024, underlining the opportunity for Indian professionals.
Yuvraj Sandhu earned DP World (European) Tour status following a historic PGTI season, winning seven times in 19 starts and setting a new single season earnings record of ₹1.91 crore. Whether he breaks the mould of the previous 3 PGTI No 1’s, who failed to find success in Europe, will be watched carefully.
Photo – ADT
