The 2018 Asian Tour season will come to a close next week with the BNI Indonesian Masters presented by Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), PT.Lautan Luas.Tbk and Bank Mandiri drawing the curtains down on what has been another unforgettable year.
While tournament draw cards Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are expected to light up the event with their star power, all eyes will also be on India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who is widely expected to win the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
“It’s obviously great to be able to extend my lead on the Habitat for Humanity standing after Hong Kong. But it’s not over until it’s over. So, we just have to wait until it’s finished,” said Sharma.
South Africa’s Justin Harding, who is in third place on the Habitat for Humanity standings, still has a mathematical chance of overtaking the Indian should he win in South Africa this week and the BNI Indonesian Masters.
For Sharma, it has been a defining season where his exploits all around the world have positioned him nicely to become the fifth Indian to earn the distinction of being Asia’s number one golfer.
A two-time Asian Tour winner, Sharma won his first title in South Africa last December followed by another in Malaysia two months later in February.
He finished tied-ninth at the World Golf Championships in Mexico in March, where he led in the second and third rounds and has also enjoyed three top-10s this season.
“This year has been a huge learning curve for me. I’ve played in some of the biggest events I could ever imagine and learned a lot. I know I have the game to be among the best in the world and I just want to keep playing well and give my best shot,” said the Indian.
At the other end of the ranking, attention will also be focused on players battling to finish inside the top-60 so as to keep their full Tour cards for the 2019 season.
Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung and China’s Liu Yanwei are sitting in 62nd and 67th place respectively on the standings and are among the notable names seeking a merit lifeline at the US$750,000 event which will be played at its traditional home at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club from December 13-16.
The BNI Indonesian Masters forms the third leg of the 2018/19 Panasonic Swing and as an added bonus, the winner of the event 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.
