Former champion Shubhankar Sharma on Wednesday described the Hero Indian Open as the” fifth” major and promised to hove his best to be among the contention in a very strong strong

The 27-year-old, who has won twice on the DP World Tour, said he is ready to add to that.

The former Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year is joined by a strong field this week, which includes last year’s Hero Indian Open runner-up Yannik Paul of Germany and four-time DP World Tour winner Rasmus Højgaard, from Denmark.

The field of 144 at the USD 2.25 million Hero Indian Open includes 20 players from Top-200 and two of them, Hojgaard and Jordan Smith are in the Top-100 and another 18 players are ranked between 101 and 200, which includes India’s Sharma at 188.

More than 40 players in the field have won on the DP World Tour and between them their tally of DP World Tour titles is just under 90. With such a strong field, Sharma said, “The field is strong and it will be a good test this week.”

About DLF course he said “This is home for me, like my second home.

“It’s one of the tougher courses that we play all year, but it’s a challenge which we all cherish.”

The highest-ranked player in the field at 78, Rasmus Højgaard, said, “I started out on a good note (in Singapore). But I struggled mid-way through the tournament and finished with a good round. The game is in a good place. I felt like I was swinging it well, I just didn’t score. But I’ve heard that from a few other players as well. I’m looking forward to this, I think if you can somehow shoot four rounds under par you’ve done very, very well.”

“I think that my main goal for the year is to finish in the top 10 (on Race to Dubai) and get one of the cards so I can join him (Nicolai) over there (on the PGA Tour).

German Yannik Paul held the halfway lead at this tournament last year, but was pipped to the post by compatriot Marcel Siem, who ended a near-nine-year wait for his fifth DP World Tour title.

Siem is unable to defend his trophy this year as he recently underwent surgery on a long-standing hip injury.

John Parry, who won the Delhi Challenge a fortnight ago, is also in the field