British Open Golf: Top-20 finish for Shubhankar, Schauffele wins year’s 2nd Major

TROON, July 21

India’s Olympics-bound golfer Shubhankar Sharma gave himself a good send-off for the Paris Games on his 28th birthday as he carded a 1-over 72 in the final round to record a creditable T-19 finish in the 152nd Open here today.

With the first two rounds of 76-71, Sharma made the cut on the line after surviving a tense three-hour wait.

The Indian followed that up with a superb 4-under 67 on the third day to rise to T-15, and on the final day, despite some missed putts and a three-putt, he fought his way to a 72 to finish inside the top-20 in demanding conditions.

Meanwhile, Xander Scahuffele, the 2024 PGA Championship winner, grabbed a three-shot lead with three holes and finished the job with a two-shot win over Justin Rose (67), who finished as runner-up after coming into the event as a qualifier. The reigning Olympics champion became the first player since Brooks Koepka to win two Majors in the same year. Koepka won the US Open and the PGA Championship in 2018.

The conditions were tough but Sharma showed great grit and hung in to finish 3-over 287 for the week.

Sharma had two birdies and dropped three bogeys. One of the bogeys was on the ninth, where he missed a par putt inside eighth feet.

After a T-8 last year, a T-19 finish may seem a bit of a disappointment, but he took the positives from the week.

“I am proud of the fightback, and it will hold me in good stead for my first Olympic Games next month in Paris,” said Sharma.

“There will be some celebrations with my family, the entire team and some friends here, but a lot of the season is still left, and I have some big events leading to the DP World finale.”

Sharma was overall pleased with his show. “It was a good week. Second and third days I played brilliantly, so no complaints. Today could have been slightly better. Overall I played really well. I’m quite proud of myself,” he said. “It’s probably the toughest Open that I’ve played,” he added.