Shubhankar Sharma shot +5 in first round of Masters at Augusta

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Shubhankar Sharma shot +5 in the first round of the Masters tournament, in Augusta, on April 6.

The 21-year-old golfer is the fourth Indian to play in the Masters tournament after he won the South Africa Joburg Open and the Malaysia Maybank Championship, according to a CNN report.

These victories have almost placed Sharma in the top 50 in the official world golf rankings and has made him India’s youngest golfer to win on the European Tour while putting him in pole position in the season-long Race to Dubai.

“I always knew that I would get here and I’ve always believed in my ability, but I never knew I was going to get here so fast. Things have changed for me so much; I would never have thought in my wildest dreams I’d be playing the Masters this year,” Sharma told CNN, adding that he believes he can win.

Sharma has always looked up to his father as he “has been there every step of the way” but most importantly he idolizes Tiger Woods and even competed with other famous golfers at the WGC Mexico Championship.

According to an Augusta Chronicle report, Sharma started golfing in the 2007 Masters with Zach Johnson and became a professional in 2013.

He did not however, receive full status on the European Tour until his December victory in Johannesburg.

“Personally I don’t feel any burden. I’m actually very happy that I’m getting a lot of attention. A lot of people back home are following me,” he told the Augusta Chronicle.

(This post was revised and corrected on April 6, correcting Shubhankar Sharma’s score in the first round).