Shubhankar Sharma arrives in New Delhi for the DP World India Championship with a timely boost in confidence after claiming his second victory of the season on the DP World Professional Golf Tour of India last week.
The Indian has endured a frustrating year on golf's Global Tour, recently missing consecutive cuts at the FedEx Open de France and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to leave him 182nd on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World and facing a battle to retain his playing privileges for 2027.
As a result, Sharma arrived in India last week looking for answers after another season of tinkering with his set-up and spending many weeks, in his own words, 'ending up doing laundry on Saturday' on the DP World Tour.
Seven days later, he lifted his tenth professional trophy.
His win came six months after ending an eight-year wait for his ninth professional win at the Boulders Classic on the PGTI in April, and proved to be a timely reminder after a difficult season on the DP World Tour.
While he had hoped that his win earlier this year would build momentum, instead he faced a frustrating struggle to find consistency.
The 30-year-old then missed seven cuts from his next 11 events but it was travelling back from Scotland where he was sent a social media post that provided a source of motivation which led to his latest triumph.
"Actually that post, one of my friends sent to me and I was travelling back from Scotland," he said of the social media quote which read: 'The arrow that is pulled back the most travels the farthest'.
"It really resonated with me at that time. Didn't have the best of seasons, and I felt like even the last year and this year as well, every time I felt good, I have done the right things, I've not gotten the result for whatever reason.
"I mean, this is sport. Anything is possible, but I felt like I was being pushed back a lot.
"On Sunday when one of my friends shared it, it felt very apt, and it was motivating for me also to post it and throw it in the universe that everything is fine."
While his intention on travelling to the event was to focus on connecting with his coach and gaining a bit of momentum, he left instead with renewed confidence after a six-stroke victory at the Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship.
“My main goal of playing last week was to gain some momentum coming into this week," he said. "I wasn't thinking about winning. I wasn't thinking about anything. Just thinking about coming back, meeting all my friends, spending time with my coach, especially called him for that week and figuring out what the problem was with the game. It was just fundamentals, just the basics which we had to figure out and we did that. That was my biggest victory.
“Obviously winning the tournament was incredible, but to see that work that I'm putting in is now showing some result was the happiest thing for me during the week, which wasn't happening throughout the year.
“I felt like I was putting in the work from Monday to Wednesday week after week and then just ending up doing laundry on Saturday. So this week was better that way, that the work showed results. I was quite happy about that. I'm hoping I can have the same mentality and vibes this week as well.”
One thing that has been consistent for Sharma throughout his career has been his ability to keep sight of his goals.
It has carried him through the highs of becoming the youngest Indian to win on the DP World Tour, but also the lows of going through second and final stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School last year.
Now returning to a familiar location at Delhi Golf Club, a place where Sharma grew up playing a lot of junior golf, he is hoping to keep that mentality going while he looks to retain his playing prilviles on the DP World Tour.
"You can never lose sight of your goals and why you play the sport," he said.
"For me the answer has always been very simple: I want to play with the best. It's not about being comfortable for me. It's about being uncomfortable and conquering that feeling and going and performing.
"I know I can play with the best because I've done it and I can perform and beat them. So that feeling of knowing I can get there, and right now is a tough time and I will eventually get there, is something that keeps on pushing me."
