Julian Suri, an American golfer of Indian origin, currently ranked 70th in the world has confirmed that he will be teeing off at the Hero Indian Open early next month.

It will be his second appearance at the Hero Indian Open. He first played it in 2013, when he had just turned pro and he missed the cut. In the time since then, he has matured into a fine golfer who commands a lot of attention.

The 26-year-old Floridian caught the attention of golf fans around the world with his incredible rise in 2017. He was one of the biggest movers on the Official World Golf Rankings. Suri rose from 1137 at the end of 2016 to 63rd at the end of 2017. A year before that he was 1711 in world rankings at the end of 2016. This rise of over 1500 places in two years and over 1000 places in 2017 alone made him the golfer to watch.

During this period he also won a title each on the European Challenge Tour (2017 D+D Real Czech Challenge) and on the European Tour (2017 Made in Denmark). That has now given him an exempt status on the European Tour.

The six-foot-one golfer has had some excellent results of late. In late 2017 after his breakthrough win in Denmark, he was T-8 in three events – Valderrama Masters, Turkish Airlines Open and the season-ending DP World Tour Championships.

His rise in world rankings has also opened the doors to the US PGA Tour, where he earned himself three starts at the start of 2018 and made the cut in two of them as he began to find his feet there.

Suri, whose ancestors hail from Andhra, has a very interesting Indian connection. His father Jagan Suryanarayan played cricket but it was tennis that he excelled in and played at a time when the likes of Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan were the big names in Indian tennis. Later Jagan also worked in the business of development of golf courses when he went to the US. His grandfather also played cricket.

Suri’s mother, Lorena, is a graphic designer and hails from Mexico.

One of the highlights of Julian’s sporting heritage is that he hails from the family of Buchi Babu, a much-revered name in sports in Southern India. The Buchi Babu All India invitational cricket tournament is a very popular one.

Suri was raised in Florida and was at the Duke University. He was an All Amercian in golf in 2012.

The first time Suri played the Hero Indian Open in 2013, he missed the cut, but he is now at a different level. Late last year In Dubai, when he played the Race to Dubai DP World Championships, he said, “I loved playing the Hero Indian Open and want to do it again.”

Now he will be here next month as one of the highest ranked players in the field.