India’s Shubhankar Sharma roared into second place in the Race to Dubai presented by Rolex with a superb three-stroke victory at the Joburg Open to give himself every chance of securing a maiden berth at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Sharma, who was starting in just his tenth European Tour event, shot a second round 61 to move into contention and he sealed the victory on the fifth day after a weather-affected fourth round. The 21-year-old showed superb composure in the circumstances, carding a solid final round 69 to win his first title on the European Tour, collect 182,275 points and take his season tally to 226,773 to move into second place behind Wade Ormsby in the Race to Dubai.
Two Challenge Tour graduates had excellent weeks to get their Race to Dubai campaign off to a great start. South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen, who finished third in the Road to Oman rankings, collected 126,500 points after finishing runner-up behind Sharma to move into tenth place in the Race to Dubai, while Road to Oman winner Tapio Pulkkanen finished in a share of third place to earn 70,898 points, which sees him sit in 13th place in the ranking.
England’s Marcus Armitage moved up from 46th in the ranking to 15th after he finished in fifth place and compatriot James Morrison moved up eight places from 20th to 12th with his sixth place finish. Denmark’s Joachim B. Hansen finished in a share of sixth place alongside Morrison and he moved up to 18th place in the Race to Dubai after starting the week in 46th place.
“Congratulations to Shubhankar,” said Nick Tarratt, Director European Tour International, Dubai office. “There is still a lot of golf to be played and if he maintains his position inside the top 60 in the Race to Dubai then we will be delighted to see him tee it up at the climax to the European Tour season at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November next year.”
