Victory Roundup – Two Maiden Wins, Two Players to Watch in 2018
As 2017 comes to an end the European and Ladies European Tours came to their conclusions with results that have us firmly looking forward to 2018! Check out all the action from Johannesburg and Dubai from the past week and meet two of the game’s rising stars.
Shubhankar Sharma - India
Meet India’s newest golf superstar. Shubhankar Sharma has made himself known on the European Tour this week after winning his maiden tour title at the Johannesburg Open on Monday. A tournament the 21-year-old almost skipped!
“It feels absolutely wonderful to have won this week,” Sharma told reporters earlier today. “I actually wasn’t going to come here about a week ago and I decided to come so I’m really happy that I came. This is my first time in South Africa and I don’t think I’m ever going to forget my first time in South Africa.”
The Indian golfer was leading by 4 on Sunday when heavy rain and thunder caused officials to postpone play until Monday. Sharma took the delay in his stride and returned for a fifth day ready to claim his title. Carding a final round 69 for a 23-under par total to beat South Africa’s own Erik van Rooyen by 3-strokes.
Sharma already holds five wins on the Professional Golf Tour of India but with today’s victory he can now lay claim to his own invitation to the 2018 Open Championship. With an impressive pay day of €161,790 Sharma will surely be thanking himself for showing up in Joburg last week!
Angel Yin - U.S.A.
American Angel Yin has proven she’s a force to be reckoned with over on the Ladies European Tour. The 19-year-old and 2017 U.S. Solheim Cup team member went to task in Dubai over the weekend to secure her first tour title at the Omega Dubai Ladies Desert Classic.
Locking down her first win didn’t come easy as Yin needed to battle it out in a three-way playoff with South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim and France’s Celine Herbin. But the American golfer was able to hold her nerve, tapping it in for birdie on the 17th hole to claim the Ladies European Tour season finale.
“I feel amazing,” Yin told reporters afterwards. “Actually, it’s my first major tour professional win, so this is big for me.”
Something else that’s big for Yin – her immense driving ability. The teenage sensation has already garnered much attention on both sides of the pond for her drives which routinely go well over 300 yards! She is one player we are super stoked to watch in the coming years.
