Staff WriterShubhankar Sharma, India’s golfing trailblazer and two-time DP World Tour winner, will carry the weight of home hopes when the inaugural DP World India Championship tees off at Delhi Golf Club from October 16–19.
And he won’t be alone—joining him are none other than reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy and FedExCup winner Tommy Fleetwood. That’s right, golf’s glitterati are flying in, and Delhi is about to get a four-day festival of fairways.
For Sharma, the tournament is more than just another week on Tour. The 29-year-old has become a symbol of Indian golf’s future, while staying rooted in its history.
He first made headlines in 2017 as the youngest Indian to win on the DP World Tour, capturing the Joburg Open at just 21. Two months later, he fired a dazzling 62 to win the Maybank Championship, before topping the Asian Tour Order of Merit and claiming the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
Not bad for a lad who was still figuring out where to keep all the silverware.
Since then, Sharma’s résumé has swelled with six victories on the Professional Golf Tour of India and a major championship highlight—an eighth-place finish at The Open in 2023.
Representing India at the 2024 Paris Olympics was another milestone, but this October brings a different kind of pride: playing host to the world’s best on home soil.
“We’re all very excited about the DP World India Championship. I can’t wait to get back to Delhi Golf Club. It’s a historic course – I played there a lot as a junior and have very fond memories. It’s a tough course, it’s iconic, and I’m sure the DP World Tour players who have played there will remember it well,” Sharma said.
McIlroy, Fleetwood, and a Tiger Woods Flashback
The supporting cast is hardly shabby. McIlroy arrives as a career grand slam winner and global superstar, while Fleetwood, fresh off his FedExCup triumph and a Ryder Cup stalwart, brings firepower of his own.
For Sharma, having such a field in India isn’t just symbolic—it’s transformational.
“Having players like Rory McIlroy as the reigning Masters champion and the FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood coming to the event, things like this can change golf in India.
I remember Tiger Woods playing an exhibition match many years ago and the impact walking with him had on me, so to have such an incredible field coming to the country will make this event really special,” Sharma reflected.
And he’s not just looking at the international big guns: “There are also so many good players from India just now, it’s a very exciting time.
I’m sure fans will see some of those names alongside the global stars on the leaderboard at the DP World India Championship.”
A Tournament With Teeth—and a $4 Million Purse
The DP World India Championship is no ordinary stop on the calendar. Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), it carries a record-breaking $4 million purse—the richest prize fund for any DP World Tour event staged in India.
The tournament sits in the Tour’s ‘Back 9’ stretch of the 2025 Race to Dubai, the penultimate stop before the Play-Offs climax at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
For DP World, the event marks another step in cementing golf’s global reach. Beyond the glitz of a new championship, the company is also ploughing efforts into grassroots programmes in India—initiatives like “Balls for Birdies,” which uses DP World’s logistics muscle to put golf balls into the hands of young hopefuls, and the “Second Life Container” project, aimed at making the game more accessible.
Delhi Ready for Its Spotlight
With Sharma front and centre, Delhi Golf Club is set to become more than a backdrop. Its narrow fairways and historic layout have been testing golfers for generations, and now they’ll be judged under the unforgiving gaze of world-class talent and an expectant home crowd.
The arrival of stars like McIlroy and Fleetwood guarantees the international spotlight, but it’s Shubhankar Sharma who will have the home galleries roaring. If there was ever a chance for Indian golf to seize its moment, this is it.
Tickets for the DP World India Championship are now on sale.
