Record-breaking Yuvraj Sandhu confident to acing European Tour

young new delhi: permit’s acquire the book of numbers out of the way first. A record seven wins out of 19 tournaments and an unprecedented season’s earnings of ₹1,91,67,100 mean Yuvraj Sandhu has been on a dream run this domestic season. By virtue of him topping the PGTI Order of Merit, the 28-year-old has earned the season’s card for 2026 at the DP World Tour where he’ll join forces with fellow Chandigarh golfer Shubhankar Sharma who has just about managed to retain his card via DP World Tour Qualifying School Final Stage.

Sandhu ended his year with a one-stroke win at PGTI’s season-ending Tata Open 2025 at the Golmuri and Beldih Golf Clubs in Jamshedpur on Sunday, thereby ensuring his record-breaking season was bookended by wins. “It’s a great feeling. To sustain that kind of consistency throughout the year is very satisfying,” Sandhu told HT.

Marked out as one of the brightest talents to emerge from the domestic ranges in recent years — alongside Veer Ahlawat and Manu Gandas — Sandhu has always shown glimpses of his promise but had struggled to truly stamp his authority. A season like this has taken care of that. No wonder then, that Sandhu is far from conservative in setting his expectations for his European debut.

“My ultimate goal is to play on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It has been a goal for the longest time, and DP World Tour is a grand stepping stone in that direction. I want to do well there (in Europe) and I truly believe I have the potential to rack up a few wins there next year.”

That’s easier said than done. No Indian man has won a title on the European Tour since Shubhankar’s Maybank Championship triumph in February 2018. And despite all his experience, Shubhankar almost lost his card this year thanks to a horror season where he missed cuts in 22 of 29 outings, including a barren run of 17 consecutive missed cuts that began at Volvo China Open in April and continued till FedEx Open de France in late September.

Sandhu’s own game may need significant work if he were to come close to meeting his goals. An average driving distance of 255.917 yards this PGTI season puts him on the 43rd place in India and a driving accuracy of 66.042% means he lies on the 47th place on that key metric. On a tour where players regularly hit 300 yards or more, Sandhu’s game will face the test it has never taken before.

“I am aware of the myriad challenges that the European Tour presents. The competition is of higher quality, the courses are much tougher, and the weather can really test you. But I back myself to do well. I am also excited to play with Shubhankar once again. We have competed together in a few tournaments when he was on his way out to Europe and I was coming through, and it’ll be nice to link up with him again,” Sandhu said.

“As far as driving is concerned, it has improved a lot ever since I have started working with Gurbaz Mann about 18 months back. I have a better understanding of my golf swing with respect to my ball flight, and with respect to how I want the ball control to be. Surely that has played a pivotal role in my success this year,” he explained.

Technique apart, the shift in Sandhu’s confidence happened through a lot of mental preparation. “Of course, winning helps but I came to realise that being in a secure mental space is the key. Every win and every loss motivated me to do well. I kept a track of my wins but numbers alone did not drive me; it was the desire to get better at what I do.”

Sandhu began to truly feel the benefits of his off-season work at the Mysuru Open in August which he won with a score of 31-under. “That’s where the mental shift really happened. I felt if I can shoot a score like that, and I know Mysore is a little easier course than most, but shooting a score that deep in four days, you still have to play well, right?”

Come January, it’ll be time to turn that potential into performance. Sandhu will kick-off his maiden DP World Tour season at the Dubai Desert Classic next month, followed by Qatar Masters. Bahrain will be the next stop, followed by Kenya, Gurugram and China in the first half of the year.

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