Mysuru, 11-08-2025

PGTI Order of Merit leader Yuvraj has eyes set on the big prize – a passage to DPWT

Yuvraj Sandhu has always been a prominent member in any talent pool he was part of – whether at the amateur level or now among the Indian professionals. Yet, he understands that talent alone cannot take you all the way to the top.

He is barely 28 but has been playing golf for almost 18 years. In that period, he has seen the ‘highs and lows’ but prefers to keep a lot of it to himself and work on the areas he thinks need improvement.

Sandhu has been on top of the PGTI’s Order of Merit list since the start of this season. Yet, he does not dwell too much on it despite the prize that it could fetch him at the end of the season.

Winning the PGTI Order of Merit would get Sandhu a passage into the DP World Tour, by virtue of an arrangement between the PGTI and the DP World Tour. “That is a big incentive for our boys,” says Amandeep Johl, former Asian Tour pro and now the CEO of PGTI.

He added, “We want to create more opportunities for our members and create for them a passage to the biggest Tours like DPWT and PGA. That is not possible anywhere else.”

Sandhu knows that well. He knows what is in store if he tops the OOM for the ticket to DPWT would be sweet.

“For sure I have my eyes on the DPWT spot. If I do well in the events I play on the PGTI I can change my career graph,” says a confident Sandhu. “The PGTI has built a strong calendar with big purses.”

This year wins in the first two events plus a series of Top-10s have taken him to the very top. Sandhu won the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship in Tollygunge and then the Glade One Presents Gujarat Open. He has also had Top-10s in Adani Invitational (3rd), Calance Open (5th) and the Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational (4th) and now Coal India Open (5th).

But he does not take anything for granted. He wants a mixed calendar. “I will play the first three events on the PGTI and yes, my focus will be on the PGTI. I will also play in other countries like Indonesia, Taiwan and elsewhere.”

“I am also looking to play the DP World India Championship at DGC in October and if I do well in it makes my position stronger. Then towards the end of the season I will likely play some more PGTI events, so it will be busy from here on.”

The 2025 season is only halfway through, and Sandhu is on the top. But at a time when PGTI puts out purses of Rs. One crore and more each week, the equations can change fast. Sandhu knows it well. Last week Angad Cheema jumped from tenth to second with one good win at the Coal India Open.

But Sandhu hung onto his pole position with a fifth-place finish. And that when things were not going his way. He was playing well but the birdies were not dropping; but he stayed calm, picking the pars, and compiling steady cards of 70-70-71-71.

“My game is in good shape, but the putter was cold,” adds Sandhu.

On the final day, when Cheema and Amardeep Malik were battling it out for the big prize, it might have seemed frustrating for a high achiever like Sandhu, but he did not lose his head. Nine straight pars on the front nine were followed by two more on 10 and 11. A bogey on the 12th would have been disturbing on a day when lip-outs were commonplace. Sandhu rallied with back-to-back birdies and parred the last four holes.

Result – sole fifth and his cheque of Rs. 3,99,900 ensured he stayed in front of the pack on the Order of Merit.

It was a significant message – if only to himself – that he could fight and hang in.

Introduced to the sport by father, Brig Balwinder Sandhu, Yuvraj took to the sport when he was a little over 10 in 2007. His father would take him to the course whenever and wherever he played, and the son loved he environment. His mother bought him a set and he was hooked for life.

He started playing the junior events and then came the amateur circuit in 2014-15. He won the Merit List in IGU and then won Maharashtra and Haryana amateur titles in 2016 and 2018 and emerged as the top amateur.

Sandhu represented India three times at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships in 2016 (Hong Kong), 2017 (New Zealand) and 2018 (Singapore) and he made the cut each time with T-21 in Singapore as his best.

Around 2018 he made his pro debut, and the progress was encouraging as he won twice on the Feeder Tour in 2019. Then came Covid. It hit him hard in terms of moving forward. But that was the case with everyone. Sandhu was no different. He took it in his stride as he worked on his game, fitness, and mental strength during lockdown.

When things became somewhat normal in 2021 Sandhu was back and won Indian Oil Servo Masters, his first win on the PGTI.

A year later he broke through big with six wins that carried him at the top of the PGTI Order of Merit. Though the season was far from over, Sandhu seemed likely to top the OOM and earn a passage to the DPWT.

However, Manu Gandas won three times in last five events of the hugely competitive PGTI circuit, and pipped Sandhu to the post.

Gandas went to DPWT, and Sandhu decided to look at Asia. It paid off as he won an Asian Development Tour, but his sights were always on bigger Tours.

Now he has the chance to fulfil those dreams. And the PGTI is providing the platform he needs.

By V Krishnaswamy

@Swinging_Swamy on X

@Swamy007 on Instagram

(Krishnaswamy is India’s most widely travelled international golf writer. He will be writing regularly for the PGTI.)