Golf: With dreams of competing in LA 2028 Olympics, trailblazer Shubham Jaglan wants to keep pushing boundaries

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Gurugram, March 27: Shubham Jaglan's life is a story of many firsts. He became a Junior World Champion at the age of 9 years without any formal training, and then got featured on Bollywood star Aamir Khan's show Satyamev Jayate back in 2014. Hailing from a small village Israna near Panipat, Shubham began training in a mustard field in his home's backyard with iron rods twisted as golf clubs at the age of 6.

His father Jagpal Jaglan, a dairy farmer, later took him to the Karnal Golf Club, where his talent was spotted by Arjuna awardee and eminent golf coach Nonita Lall Qureshi. He then moved to Delhi after finding support from The Golf Foundation established by Asian Games gold medallist Amit Luthra.

After years of training and then clinching a golf scholarship at the University of South Florida in 2021, Shubham went on to become the first Indian ever to claim the NCAA Division 1 title last year. The 20-year-old then immediately secured his PGA Tour of Americas card the same year, a first for any Indian golfer. Earlier this year, he then earned a full card on the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) one after the other.

In an exclusive conversation with myKhel, Shubham Jaglan spoke about his golfing journey, the hurdles he overcame before becoming successful, his dream of competing in the LA 2028 Olympics and much more on the sidelines of the $2.55 million Hero Indian Open here at the DLF Golf & Country Club. Excerpts:

MyKhel: Whole of India noticed you for the first time on Aamir Khan's TV show Satyamev Jayate. How would you summarize this journey?

Shubham Jaglan: I think this week, playing in the Hero Indian Open kind of brings it all together for me. I would go to the Delhi Golf Club to watch this event and watch a lot of my idols - SSP Chawrasia (2016 & 2017 Indian Open winner), Anirban Lahiri (2015 Indian Open champion) - compete. Watching those guys to now being a professional golfer and playing in the Indian Open that's something that I dreamed of, it's very hard to believe.

Starting out from such humble beginnings to now playing professionally and doing this as my livelihood is crazy, but that's what I always dreamed of. And not just me, but my family has worked really hard. My team around me, I've been extremely lucky to have just amazing people around me all the time. From junior golf, I mentioned Noni ma'am, the Golf Foundation, Amit Luthra.

The Delhi Golf Club supported me a bunch during my junior golf days and then coaches that I found in college, have been a great support system. So, I am extremely lucky and happy to be where I am.

MK: If you can recount what kind of sacrifices your parents made to send you to USA, make you study there, play golf, like taking such huge financial risks to send you there, not having their child with them...

SJ: I think, my parents believed in me before anyone else did. I'm extremely grateful and lucky to have had that. We moved to Delhi thanks to the Golf Foundation. With their help, I was able to relocate from my village. But at that point, they had no guarantees of success. I was only 6-7 years old and they were uprooting their whole life just to help me chase my dream. So for them to have believed in me at that early part of my golfing career is huge. I wouldn't be here without them obviously. I've played bad golf I played great golf and every time that I've come home they've just been like a safe place.

Nobody believed in me more than they did, especially my dad, who also caddied for me. Throughout junior golf, he's caddied for me in a lot of professional events too. So, having that at home is a huge advantage.

MK: How do you assess your achievement of winning the NCAA Division 1 title in USA?

SJ: I wouldn't call it achievement. It was just a different path than what most Indian guys have taken. I want to give credit to my childhood coach Nonita Lall Qureshi, she was the one that inspired me to pursue college golf. She knows a lot about what it takes to develop good players and she was able to guide me to understand that for me to develop as a golfer and as a person.

I have always had a pretty holistic view about golf. When you go outside, you have to wash your own clothes and you don't have your parents around you. Learning that is a huge skill in golf but also just in life. So, I had a great experience playing college golf and I feel like that prepared me so much to play professionally. I see the benefits of that now.

MK: You are also part of PGTI 72 The League. You are one of highest earners in the league at Rs 19 Lakh. Do you foresee the League popularising golf among the new generation?

SJ: Expanding golf and making it more accessible is much needed, especially in a country like India where golf is maybe not the most accessible, most popular sport. So, by developing different formats like 72 The League, the PGTI did a great job. I think it also brings in more corporate sponsors. We had a team owner, there were multiple team owners for the league and bringing those people into golf, developing their interests and having them on board like Haldirams that's what we all need.

MK: With 2026 being your rookie year, how do you assess competing in a Hero Indian Open field that has someone like World No. 22 and three-time PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia? How is this experience going to help you in season further?

SJ: This is my first season as a professional golfer. I've been playing golf professionally for about only eight or nine months. So I'm very new to this. I'm still learning. Me and my mentor, we talk about it all the time. I've never played golf for 8-9 weeks in a row. I haven't been home more than three days for the past two months. Learning that is a new experience - how to take care of your body, take care of your mind, come in each week, preparing best as you can.

I am glad and deeply grateful that I have a spot on the Asian Tour this year. I will also focus on the PGTI tour. I am very grateful to Hero MotoCorp for giving me an invite this week. As I said, I've looked up to this event as a kid, as most Indian golfers do. And playing this week, I didn't play great this week, but I was able to learn so much. I think experiences like these are what help you develop over time, hopefully.

I have multiple coaches. My swing coach Tony Ruggiero is in the United States. I worked with him throughout college. David Kearney is my agent and he also has been mentoring me for almost two years now and his help has been unreal. It's been just amazing how much he has helped me develop my perspective on the game.

MK: In two years down the line you have the LA 2028 Olympics in America. Have you thought of representing India in that event?

SJ: I would love to play the Olympics. I think every sportsperson that picks up the game, that's the ultimate aim. Golf is slightly different but playing in the Olympics is the goal for sure. If I'm playing good golf, that's going to take care of itself. I just want to focus on myself and developing my game. Just going on a day-to-day basis and hopefully that stacks up over time. Then hopefully in two years' time, I am in LA and talking to you again.