New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Two-time DP World Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma will lead the home charge when he joins global stars Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood at the $4 million DP World India Championship.

Sharma, who enjoyed a recent career highlight by representing India at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, became the youngest Indian player to win on the DP World Tour when he claimed the Joburg Open title in December 2017, at the age of just 21.

He lifted a second trophy two months later after carding a sublime final round of 62 to win the Maybank Championship. He capped off the season by claiming the 2018 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award and topping the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

The 29-year-old has also recorded six wins on the Professional Golf Tour of India, and boasts a Major Championship top ten, following his impressive Tied-8th finish in The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023.

Sharma joins reigning Masters champion and career grand slam winner Rory McIlroy and his Europe Ryder Cup team mate, the seven-time DP World Tour winner, Olympic Silver Medallist and newly-crowned FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood in the inaugural DP World India Championship at the iconic Delhi Golf Club.

Global smart logistics provider DP World and the DP World Tour launched the DP World India Championship this season. Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the $4 million tournament features the largest prize fund ever offered for a DP World Tour event in India, with an exciting field set to join Sharma, Fleetwood and McIlroy in Delhi.

'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 as quoted from a press release.

'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. 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 World India Championship,' he concluded.

The DP World India Championship will be the eighth of nine events in the 'Back 9' phase of the 2025 Race to Dubai, building towards the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs and culminating in the DP World Tour Championship in November at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. (ANI)