Jakarta, December 11: India’s Shubhankar Sharma, the newly crowned Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, is ready to put up a performance worthy of his status as Asia’s best golfer when the BNI Indonesian Masters presented by Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), PT.Lautan Luas.Tbk and Bank Mandiri starts on Thursday.

Sharma’s glorious run this season started with his second Asian Tour win in Malaysia in February followed by a tied-ninth finish at the World Golf Championships in Mexico in March, where he led in the second and third rounds.

He went on to play in all four Major championships this year and his season was further sweetened by three top-10s in India, Malaysia and Hong Kong which would eventually give him an unassailable lead on the Habitat for Humanity Standings.

Sharma’s achievements have not gone unnoticed by the tournament’s marquee players Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson who are also expected to light up the BNI Indonesian Masters with their star power along with the country’s leading golfer, Danny Masrin.

While Rose is the highest-ranked player at the BNI Indonesian Masters this week, the world number two is under no illusions it will be a walk in the park as he prepares to put up a stout defence of his title.

Playing in Indonesia for the first time, Stenson is aware of the stiff Asian challenge and is hopeful of putting up a strong performance despite his lack of experience playing at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club where the Asian Tour’s US$750,000 season-ending event will be played this week.

Did you know?

• At 22, Sharma is fifth and youngest Indian to win the coveted Asian Tour Order of Merit. Other Indian merit champions include Arjun Atwal (2003), Jyoti Randhawa (2002), Jeev Milkha Singh (2006 & 2008) and Anirban Lahiri (2015).
• Sharma was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award from the President of India in September. He was also named the Rookie of the Year on the European Tour.
• Rose emerged triumphant with a record winning score of 29-under-par 259 last year. He also holds the record of winning with the biggest margin (8 strokes) in the tournament history.
• Henrik Stenson forged an unbeatable partnership with Rose, winning both their Foursomes matches at the Ryder Cup in September.
• Stenson and Rose were engaged in a memorable battle at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where Stenson won the silver medal finishing two strokes behind gold medalist Rose.
• Stenson is the first male Swedish Major champion, having won the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon.
• The winner of the BNI Indonesian Masters will earn a spot in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational next July.
• The BNI Indonesian Masters is also the final event in the world’s golfing calendar where Official World Ranking points will be afforded to players as they seek to break into the top-50 by the end of the year.
• The tournament is the third leg of the 2018/19 Panasonic Swing. The Panasonic Swing is an aggregate points race that spans five events with Asian Tour players chasing a share of a lucrative bonus pool.

Players’ Quotes

Shubhankar Sharma (Ind)

Obviously, I’ve played on this course many times and I do know a few things about this track. But I’m looking forward to playing well and having a good week. To be honest, I’ve been expecting too much from myself this year and it has been a numbers game from Asia to Europe and right up to the Majors. But after the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, I had a good lead on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and I really wanted to finish right on top. Now that I’ve done it, I’m feeling very relaxed. You always want to play well in every event that you play in and for this week, I want to give my best shot and try to win. But right now, it’s very satisfying as I’ve done what I’ve set out to do and I’m really happy. Winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit means a lot to me as it’s what all of us want to do. This is our home Tour and this is where we all start. This is the last event of the year on the Asian Tour and I want to play my best and sign off what has already been a very satisfying year.

Justin Rose (Eng)

I have always had the mentality that the golf course doesn’t recognize who is the best player in the world. I’d don’t tee off ahead of these guys because of my ranking. We tee off together with the same score on Thursday. It is about a great week’s work. There is no complacency from that point of view. It is always good to be here and try and play my best.

We are seeing Asian players crop up all over the word and compete at the highest level. More and more players are graduating from the Asian Tour. I think it is a sign of things to come. If you look at the LPGA, they are strongly represented by Asia unbelievably well. We are beginning to see that happen on the men’s side.

Henrik Stenson (Swe)

I have been a professional golfer for 20 years and this is my first time here. Justin told me a lot of good things from his trip last year and it’s been a lot of fun so far, although it’s only been a day and a half here. We got to know a lot of new people here in Indonesia as well. Everyone’s very friendly and trying to make sure we have the best of times here. I’ve come up with a plan and hopefully I can play some decent game and I can be one of the guys in the mix on Sunday. It’s a good golf course. I like it. I don’t have much experience as compared to Justin and the other players who have played here in the past. I played with Shubhankar in Malaysia when he won the Maybank Championship earlier this year. I didn’t have a lot to set up against his fine play that week.  It’s always hard to predict which golfer will be in top form for the week but I have played a lot in Asia in my career and I have seen how golf has grown here in Asia. The strength of the Asian players is now coming through and I can only agree with Justin that we want to see more and more players like Shubhankar coming up. Golf is growing in countries that we did not expect to see some 20 years ago. The world golf is changing and it’s fun to see.

Danny Masrin (Ina)

I actually played in the Indonesian Masters in 2011 as an amateur and was still in senior high school. It was the year when Lee Westwood came, won and became world number one. I came back and played in 2016 as a professional and it was a different feeling. It was my first professional tournament and obviously I was feeling nervous. But I have seen how this tournament has grown especially the strength of the field. I think we are having the deepest field from Asia and over the world and it’s great to see how golf has grown in Indonesia. It also brings lots of hype to the tournament and give Asian Tour players the chance to see how we match up against these top players. This is a great opportunity for the juniors to see the opportunities we have in Indonesia. We have two Asian Development Tour events and two Asian Tour events in Indonesia and it’s good for the juniors who want to pursue golf as a career to know there are opportunities here.

Ends.

About Asian Tour

As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game. The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status. Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), Habitat for Humanity (Official Sustainable Development Partner), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), Titleist and FootJoy (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.