Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Fresh Slate




In line?


He's a reporter's delight, always ready to talk, and always with something smart to talk about. But among all those tales from his early career, or his first year travelling around the continent as a living-out-of-the-suitcase professional, there is one that he'll surely never tire of telling. 


A little over two years after he turned pro, having left behind his worth-remembering amateur career, and after several close brushes, Anirban Lahiri has finally won his first professional title -- at the Haryana Open in Panchkula. 


He shot a 69 in the final round, keeping his head while the overnight leaderboard's main names lost theirs. There was back nine bogey in his round too, but the Bangalore boy held on to finish ahead of C Muniyappa. Muniyappa shot a 66, coming up from some shadowy place on the scoresheet to be just one behind his friend. 


Lahiri had jumped up to the second place at the week before's DLF Masters, had flattered, and then come up a little short at the Bilt Open last year, blasted a course record ten-under 62 at the SAIL Open, put together four good rounds for a best-ever fourth place at the Black Mountain Masters, and managed another top-ten on the Asian Tour (Queen's Cup). Now he has a win on his CV, one entry that will always be marked in bold. 


It was relief, more than even joy, as Lahiri said later. He had been used to winning finishing his amateur career, and people around him had been used to seeing him win. 


Next, there might be comparisons with Gaganjeet Bhullar, who had to wait a long time for his first win too, and who took off rapidly from there, as has been well documented now. "A lot of people have been talking to me about Gaganjeet and how he changed after his first title," Anirban told us. "It is definitely a big sort of block off your mind once you have won, so I guess it matters. I will not be happy till I have made this translate into good performances on the Asian Tour." 


He's not badly placed on the Order of Merit, 52nd at the moment, but the season's Q-School graduate will have to make sure he finishes well to make sure of his next year's card. He gets his chance to start right away, being off to Chinese Taipei this week for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters. It'll be fun to see now how this story unfolds.

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Monday, September 21, 2009

Bhullar Breaks Randhawa Spell

The pleasing lilt that hums its way around the course was missing all week, the heat robbing the place of its charm. But on Sunday, as the blazing sun glared down at its oppressive best, a gentle breeze was blowing across the landscape of Indian golf. Jyoti Randhawa and Gaganjeet Bhullar took distinctly different routes to ready the stage for the grand finish at the DLF Masters. Randhawa was told the script would be fairly simple, a steady round would ensure that the young turk would fall in line and finish an obedient second. But for Bhullar, a heady week in star-filled Turnberry in the early season had given the mind sufficient fodder for mischief and the will enough strength to stay resolute. A brazen charge helped Bhullar deliver his fifth win on tour to continue his unbeaten run and help break the Randhawa spell on domestic turf.





As the two got the final 18 holes underway, it was the 21-year-old who took the first hit but the senior pro who wavered. A one-foot putt that grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out on the par-3 third, started an unlikely meltdown for Randhawa. Bhullar, meanwhile, waited for his senior’s bogey streak to stop for him to start his run. A regulation birdie on the par-5 sixth was followed by his fourth straight birdie-steal from the bunker-guarded seventh hole to extend the lead to five shots. With Randhawa failing to put together a charge, the Kapurthala pro made his third birdie of the day, from a picture-perfect spot on the ninth green, to head into the back nine with a definitive six-shot lead.


For Randhawa, the challenge was all but over, a thought that Bhullar, by his own confession, allowed to play in his head as they approached the last few holes. But with fifty other professionals making the four-hour trek around the course, and a few notable names inching up towards the leader, the win was yet to be sealed. Shamim Khan threatened, but quietened down. Ashok Kumar promised, but stopped short and Anirban Lahiri charged up the leaderboard but had to be content with an unexpected second-place finish. Bhullar, on the other hand, kept the bogeys away from his card and added a couple of birdies, heading to the 18th green five clear of the next best name. 


A ten-foot putt was needed to maintain that victory margin, and he duly obliged. Not because a five-putt quadruple-bogey would have severely shrunk his bragging rights but because that putt delivered a silent statement of intent, of promise.  The same young shoulders would return to the DLF Golf & Country Club in a few weeks’ time, with the heavy weight of expectations and the added burden of leading the home charge during the week that matters, the Indian Open week.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Better Finish?


It's not the best of starts, but then again, they have three more rounds to make it up in. When it comes to our young 'uns, we like being optimistic!


Abhishek Jha -- at one-over 73 -- was the best of the lot as the team started its campaign at the Asia-Pacific amateur team championships in South Korea. Rashid (76) and debutant Pawan (79) were the other two whose scores were counted to make the team total of twelve-over 228 as Karan Vasudeva went nine-over. That's 16 huge shots off first-round leaders Koreans, but as we said, we still think the tied sixth spot can go northwards as they try to repeat 1973.


Back then, the Indian team had staged a proper heist on favourites Japan, winning by three shots to get the country a first ever international team title in golf. The quartet of steady seniors RK Pitamber and PG Sethi and youngsters Vikramjit Singh and Lakshman Singh made themselves a chapter of Indian history by winning the biennial tournament. 


We spoke to Lakshman Singh, who, in 1982, also went on to win the individual and team gold at the Asian Games. He still plays Senior events around the world along with Vikramjit Singh, though the two 'elder statesmen' of the team have passed.


"We were playing against some really strong teams in Jakarta," he says. "Japan, with Ginjiro Nakabe, Tsutomu Irie, Michio Mori and Tetsuo Sakata, were one of the strongest teams, as those players were supposed to be the world's best amateurs at the time. The Taiwanese team also had Mister Lu, who was quite young at that time, but still undoubtedly talented, as he showed later.


Lakshman Singh says it was a great team effort from each of them, guided perfectly by Pitamber, who was also the captain of the team. "He kept us all really calm throughout, and it felt just wonderful to win, specially for me since it was my first ever international tournament."


We do hope that one day many years down the line, Pawan is telling our grandkids something similar about his first international outing!

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Gagan Keeps Going And An Old Times' Tale

At least this time there was no heartbreaking play-off. Gaganjeet Bhullar made another last-day charge to end second at an Asian Tour tournament, but unlike in Brunei, this week's Macau Open was being run his own way by another player. Thai senior Thaworn Wiratchant's five-shot lead starting out the last day threatened to be spectacularly similar to that of another player sharing his initials, just playing on the other side of the world.

Wiratchant finally won by six shots, but Gagan's five-under 66 pushed him up from his overnight tied seventh. Having not started off on a very bright note -- Gagan just managed an even-par round on the opening day -- it is terrific that the youngster is making a habit of finishing well.

He's going to be playing at home finally this week, at the DLF Masters, as the domestic tour finally plays its first real big tournament of the year. Jyoti and Shiv are supposed to be there too, so this week should be a fun one.

Talking of the domestic tour, last week's Players' Championship at Chandigarh had a curiousity worth talking about. With rain pelting down almost each day, most of the play was washed out because of 'unplayable conditions', we were told. So, in addition to being forced to cut down the number of rounds to just two, the organisers also took one hole -- the water-logged 5th -- out of play. So the end of Amandeep Johl's long title wait came in a tournament played over 34 holes!

We tried to dig into precendents of such a big cut, and the one interesting one we found was the Surya Nepal Masters of 2002, a tournament that was part of the regular Indian circuit back then. It seems that foggy conditions had forced the last round to be played just over 14 holes, an effective par 55!

Mukesh Kumar had finished second behind US Mundy there and he recalled the day to us. "The players were really keen on the tournament not going into the next day as we had to catch a flight to Kolkata for a tournament in the next week. The next flight out was a couple of days later, and so, it was decided to reduce the number of holes," Mukesh said.

According to PGTI -- the current domestic tour -- chief tournament referee Sampath Chari, both the sponsors and players are keen to finish off in time, and so such a step is taken.

Mukesh, though, feels that it could sometimes turn out to be slightly unfair. "It has to be done, since the main idea is to finish the tournament, but playing over just a few holes is often not an accurate measure," he said.

Well, Mukesh had finished joint runner-up in Kathmandu, though he just managed a tied eighth in Chandigarh.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Jeev Overlooked By Norman; Hero Honda Relieved!


Like we said, despair for one camp and joy for the other. Jeev has been overlooked by Greg Norman who chose to go with Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott as his two picks to complete the International team lineup for the Presidents Cup.

So now, provided Jeev doesn't pick up an injury and doesn't take a liking for the Madrid Masters, he is likely to play the Indian Open. With the 45-year-old tournament bumping up the prize money by 25 per cent, there is no reason why Jeev should miss the Open.

As for Greg Norman, we can understand picking Ryo Ishikawa, but Adam Scott?



Here's Adam Scott's performance in the last 15 tournaments, from the Barclays back till the Transitions Championship-:

T58--MC--MC--T51--MC--T4--T36--MC--T64--MC--MC--MC--MC--MC--MC

It adds up to one top-ten finish and ten missed cuts in his last 15 starts. That's one helluva punt, Mr Norman!

Aussie Golfer put up ten reasons why Norman may have picked Scott. Here are our favourites from that list-:

  • He thought he could teach him about dating a tennis player and tell him what love really means to them.
  • Robert Allenby threatened to quit if he didn't
  • He thought he had to make picks for the opposition team.
  • Anna Rawson wasn't eligible.



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Monday, September 7, 2009

Bitter Cheese In Switzerland


It was a pretty disappointing week for the Indians at the European Masters in Switzerland with no one managing to get into the top-10. Jyoti Randhawa emerged as the best Indian on display after he carded his second successive round of one-under 70 to finish tied for 32nd place.

Jeev Milkha Singh could have made a final-day charge but a run of poor holes laid to rest his hopes of a good finish and would definitely not have gone down well with Greg Norman, who is on the prowl for his two picks for the Presidents Cup. Jeev’s 74 meant that he finished 49th on the leaderboard. Shiv Kapur, fresh from his top-ten showing at Gleneagles, had a horrid weekend, with the double bogeys refusing to get off his back and was hovering around the bottom rungs of the leaderboard. Gaganjeet Bhullar unfortunately failed to make the cut this week.

--

Everyone has been talking about Jeev’s great desire to be a part of the Presidents Cup but if Norman chooses not to pick him, it could well be a blessing in disguise. The dates of the Indian Open and the Presidents Cup clash this year, and if Jeev is chosen to represent the International team then he would have to forego the national open which may not be the best thing in the world. This is assuming that Jeev would give the Indian Open preference over the European Tour event that would take place that week.

Here at IGT, opinions are clearly divided and whatever the Shark decides on, it will bring joy to one camp and despair to the other.

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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Rashid Scripts Incredible Win

It looked like a scene straight out of Blood Diamond with the men wading around in knee-deep water, hunting for the precious round object. The referee, rather wisely, chose to stand outside the waterlogged bunker and listed the various possibilities to Rashid Khan. There was no way the Delhi boy was going to consider the penalty drop, not when he started the day five shots back and definitely not when he was desperate for a win on his home course. The ball was found and a free drop was allowed in the back of the bunker. No problem sir! He took out his 8-iron to send the ball 155 yards to the green, 20 feet from the pin and promptly converted the putt to rev up the decibel levels.



The 18-year-old entered the Northern India Amateur without a win in his last three appearances on tour and that was one record he wanted to set straight. He had climbed to the top of the leaderboard by the halfway stage but what followed was his worst round on the amateur circuit since he first tasted victory on tour in the last edition of the Northern India. It was Abhishek Jha who was at the helm of affairs with the 15-year-old Ankur Chadha close behind him before the final round. Abhishek had earlier in the week surprised everyone by announcing his decision to hang up his amateur boots and jump into the trying world of professional golf at the end of the year.

But on the final day, with an embarrassing third round performance to overcome, Rashid was intent on stealing the limelight and he did it in grand fashion, albeit, in the penultimate group. It took him just eight holes to join the leaders and another hole after that to hold the lead on his own.

Ankur, in his first showing on tour, tried to match Rashid’s pace as the competition moved to the back-nine. He even pulled ahead of him for a couple of minutes before Rashid caught up once again. With the two still locked in battle, with Rashid on the 17th tee and Ankur on the 16th green, it was Rashid’s caddy who assessed the situation and pressed home the need for another birdie. Rashid did one better, finishing birdie-birdie and it was enough to knock the wind out of Ankur’s challenge and the resultant 66, good enough to keep the trophy in the Khan household.

Ankur impressed everyone with his tenacity and ability to hold his own in the leadergroup. The Chandigarh Open Amateur and the tournaments that follow will really tell us if his showing was a flash in the pan or a prelude to greater deeds. We sincerely hope he does enough to add his name into the vessel which is running dry in search of promising names for the future. And while we are at it, we will also keep a close eye on Honey Baisoya who at 13 did fairly well this week. If only someone weans him off his want to turn pro in a couple of years!

Rashid’s challenge on tour might be slim but a final-round 66 to walk off with the title is a commendable performance at any level and it was no surprise then that it gave him enough confidence to deliver his first victory speech. His first after six wins from just 12 starts.


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Sunday, August 23, 2009

With Bag And Baggage


Golf courses have taken the definition of a long ride from the busy city to some serene, albeit ridiculously out-of-the-way, oasis. The Indian Open, then, with its almost-permanent home at the Delhi Golf Club, was something we looked forward to with great enthusiasm. Where else could you expect to see a congregation of the region's finest without having to endure a long ride to nowhere.

But unfortunately, what was talked about in hushed tones has now been confirmed. The annual, week-long rite of the 'national open' will now have to proceed to DLF in Gurgaon. It is rather unfortunate because the history-rich course at DGC was the first-ever venue for the tournament when it started in 1964. And from then on, the course had played host to it each time Delhi held the event, except in the 2000 and 2001 editions. It was the pretty, but unacceptably remote Classic Golf Resort that played host those two years.

For the DGC, which decks out in its best finery each year with an almost festive ambience for the Asian Tour tournament, this is the second bit of bad news this year. Earlier in the year, in readiness for the Indian Masters, an elaborate reseeding programme had been undertaken. Then came the news that the European Tour tournament was off for the season.

The Arnold Palmer-designed DLF Golf & Country Club did host to the star-studdded Johnnie Walker Classic last year. But even back then, with Jyoti Randhawa in contention, the crowd was considerably thin as the final-round Sunday clashed with Sachin Tendulkar putting on a spectacular show at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

We guess it will be a while before golf is for the fans in India. What count, for now, are the corporate marquees and elaborate setups for the beer-guzzling 36-handicappers who have no idea what to do with their hefty bank balances.

But addicts we are and addicts we will be and when the second Thursday of October comes our way, we will make the pilgrimage to the 46th edition of the Indian Open. After all, we did go to the SAIL Open, didn't we?

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Heartbreak In Brunei


By the time we figured out the best source for information, the starter at the Brunei Open had swiftly seen off all the groups, a handsome lunch and most of Kate and Leopold. Well, maybe not, but a malfunctioning Asian Tour scoreboard left us panic-stricken, and desperately hunting for updates from the final round. When we did chance upon scoring solutions, Gaganjeet Bhullar had pulled away, quite like the railway carriages that Kapurthala is famous for, with the now frequent, and much appreciated, birdie blitz.

Yup, he went birdie birdie birdie and was in the mix, and another title was firmly in sight. But Boonchu Ruangkit did enough on the front-nine to stay ahead of a bunch of contenders. When Gagan finally held a share of the lead, for the first time this week, it seemed like all of Brunei was tied for first place. With four men on top, the tournament had clearly turned into a delightful Sunday afternoon of competitive golf.

Australian Darren Beck enjoyed a great run on the homeward-nine, but a 65 put him at 13-under, a shade short of what we thought would be the winning score. But how wrong we were. The Aussie duo of Scott Barr and David Gleeson fell away, Gagan bogeyed the par-5 15th to join Beck and Boonchu Ruangkit looked set to do a “Tom Watson”.

To be honest, and incredibly mean, it would be fair to say that he actually did a “Tom Watson”, bogeyed the last hole and brought upon us a three-man playoff. While he slipped away on the second playoff hole, Gagan took Beck to another hole but that was as far as he could manage. Beck birdied the third playoff hole and clinched his maiden Asian Tour title.

Darren Beck: A worthy winner


Come to think of it, an almost win, a first for Muniyappa and a fairly good Sunday showing for Chiragh Kumar and Anirban Lahiri must be considered pretty satisfactory.

Oh, and if you had forgotten, Beck is the same guy who held the lead, ever so briefly, during the Indian Open when Liang Wen-chong decided to liven things up at the Delhi Golf Club. So, we will have to agree with Gagan when he says, “It was a long overdue win for Beck.”

And yes, before you sue us, the reference to Kapurthala is not an original. It was mouthed by Mr Wilkins, and it was surely cool enough to be aped.

Image courtesy: www.asiantour.com

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Deep Blues


Some things just make you want to tear you hair out in agony and disappointment. Just when we thought what a perfectly safe round Arjun Atwal was playing at the Buick Open -- the same day when one with the name of Tiger Woods had found himself a ball magnet inside the Warwick Hills holes -- and how delightful it was to see an Indian name hovering around the topmost quarter of the leaderboard, he went and got himself in the worst possible red mist, getting a penalty drop and then making a four-putt on the same hole. Four putts? It should be made a crime in our opinion to do that.

Well, what do we end up with? A double bogey on a par-four and a triple-bogey on a par-five. From five-under for the tournament after 14 holes, Atwal was level-par after 16, tied for the 112nd spot, and making some travel agent out there a little busy.

The first round had been messy for sure, with two bogeys and a double, but he had made enough birdies to keep the damage low and stay at just one-under. There have been just too many mistakes from Arjun, despite his obvious form considering the number of birdies he's been managing to make. That's the fourth cut he's missed in four tournaments since returning to the Tour.

Cheer us up a bit, Arjun.

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Muniyappa Comes To The Party

We thought we would give the scoreboard a quick glance before heading off for a "mass tete-a-tete" with Lewis Hamilton. And when we did our usual leaderboard scouting, we found Gaganjeet at seven-under and had almost closed the window before we caught sight of Chinnaswamy Muniyappa a little bit higher. The Bangalorean raced up to tied third when he finished, with a round of nine-under 62 at the Brunei Open.

We surely didn't see that coming. After having turned pro in 1997, Muniyappa has been a journeyman on the domestic circuit, securing his maiden title last year in his native city, at the Toyota Open, a 20-lakher played in Eagleton. Having made close to two lakhs in the first season of the PGTI, he shot up the merit list and took home a little over Rs 18 lakh in prize money last season. And after securing his full Asian Tour card at the Q-school earlier this year, Muniyappa was deemed ready to step it up on foreign soil

But before today, he had never made the cut in an Asian Tour event outside India and therefore to expect him to do something spectacular tomorrow would be hoping for a bit too much. But, that is exactly what we will be doing. This just sounds exciting, to be waking up on a Sunday morning, looking for great play from more than one Indian player.

In May this year, he was tied for the lead in the early stages of the DDA Open but the Delhi heat was too much to handle for him and he slipped away towards the end. The pressure will definitely be on him when he targets a high finish, possibly a win tomorrow. For the 32-year-old, who brings in each new year with the chorus of birthday wishes, tomorrow could mark a new dawn in his professional career.


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Monday, July 27, 2009

Bull Run!


Can we please say we told you so? :D Fine, we won't but before we tell you anything at all, allow us a moment for a short rant.

In the absence of live telecast, it is our belief that one must take to the streets and express dissent in the most civil manner possible for lack of coverage. But over the last two days, we rediscovered the joy of having to log on to the Tour website to get hole-by-hole updates. It is a tedious process to keep staring at the small screen, with hope written all over, as the live scoring console on asiantour.com gears up to refresh itself. The first hint we look for is the last updated time on the top of the page and as soon as we spot a change there, the trial begins. Scrolling up, slowly, from rock-bottom, one ranking place at a time till we spot the name. By the time we reach the top-ten, the first instinct is to redo the whole process, just to ensure our boy didn't suddenly quadruple-bogey to some lousy 56th place on the leaderboard. While it is a nervy exercise, more often than not, there are no words to describe the joy of seeing one of the Indians perched right on top.

Wait, isn't that what Gagnjeet Bhullar said after he won the Indonesia President Invitational? Well, he may have had no words to describe his win but we can assure you that the feeling is just the same after 18 holes and 126 index-finger imprints on the F5 key. Sometimes, just sometimes, we are brave enough to look the page in the eye, in the hope that the name is still right on top but we can assure you those moments of bravado are rare. One day, we will write a book -- Live Scoring lookup for Dummies. It will be an exhaustive read on everything that goes into this arduous task, but for now we must not ignore Gagan, should we?


Back in his hotel room with the big trophy, Gagan, busy taking congratulatory messages, was still basking in the glory when we got in touch with him. "I was slightly worried thinking of 2007,” he said of that unlucky miss two years ago, “but I had a slightly bigger lead this time and I was ready for even a play-off chance, getting to the putting green while Blyth finished his round. It was a relief when it was over.”


The youngster also explained just what the ‘Turnberry experience’ he’d been talking about meant. “It just feels very different when you go to the driving range and you see Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els,” he said. “Coming from that field to this one, I was feeling pretty confident of myself and my game.”



Next up: Brunei. Next wish: Another title, like duhh!


Image courtesy: www.asiantour.com


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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Ten-under, More Thunder?

Turns out rain is not the only thing that Gaganjeet Bhullar has carried from windy Scotland to balmy Indonesia. The youngster missed the cut at the British Open, but the confidence of having played his first Major championship seems to be showing already.

Gagan might finally be turning our pre-tournament hopes into reality as he shot a hold-your-breath 10-under 62 in the thundershower-struck third round at the Indonesia President Invitational. Going into Sunday, he's two ahead of all the field but we'll hold our horses before branding him third-round leader as closest pursuer, Adam Blyth, the young Aussie who is ever ready to put on his dancing shoes, is just two behind and with six holes in his third round to go, might just canter ahead before the last round begins.

But this is about Gagan, who is now 17-under for the tournament over just three rounds on the rain-softened greens of the Damai Indah Golf and Country Club. In fact, the last-hole birdie was almost stolen by the 21-year-old, who, playing in near darkness, knew that they might be off any moment. So he played two perfect shots, off the tee, and on the green, in the dark and then two-putted from 12 feet to get the birdie.

That extra cushion might not have been such a bad idea. Gagan, after all, has some bitter-sweet memories of this tournament, courtesy a gentleman named Juvic Pagunsan, as we've already told you. But that was when Gagan was practically a greenhorn in pro golf. Now that the taste of victory is not an alien flavour for him, we hope this finish turns out to be much sweeter.

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Right On Target

When Arjun Atwal stepped on to the 15th tee at Glen Abbey, there was very little that could cheer him up. Reasons for that were plenty-- yet to make the cut on his comeback trail, stuck in the bottom rungs of the leaderboard in Ontario and a playing partner who was setting the pace at the rain-hit Canadian Open.

Starting his second round from the 10th, he needed a run of birdies to spend two more days north of the American border. As he walked off the 15th green, he was still searching for his first birdie, with the additional burden of lugging around a brand-new BMW Z4 Roadster through the rest of the round. That was courtesy his hole-in-one on the 132-yard 15th, the first ace on the hole in over 25 years of the Canadian Open.

A perfect drive, Mr Atwal

Arjun followed it up with three birdies on the run later in his round and looks like he will be in contention on the weekend, provided he does no worse than a par on the last hole. For that, he will have to wait till Saturday morning.

PGA Tour's Bob Stevens, following Arjun's group for Martin Laird's sake, filed this note on his hole-in-one-:

Arjun Atwal came out of nowhere to ace the 132-yard, par-3 15th at Glen Abbey. He threw his tee shot just over the flagstick and spun it off the backboard, which set it up to trickle back down the slope and into the cup. Atwal didn't appear to know he'd won the car until its "keeper" came out and told him. Arjun climbed inside his new ride for a few photos before walking up the hill to pull the ball out of the cup. His wife was following all the action and told me she'd be in charge of the car's future.

Now we wonder if he could exchange his BMW for PGA Tour earnings to move up the money list. Not a bad idea we think!

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Back To The Fold

Four months back he was a promising young player on the Indian circuit, looking to make a name for himself on foreign shores. Today, when he returns to the Asian Tour, he comes with "Major experience" under his belt and a few titles to boot. But for 21-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar, the story could have been very different had someone told Juvic Pagunsun that birdie-eagle finishes are not supposed to win you tournaments. Unfortunately, no one did, and it left Gaganjeet waiting for nearly two years for his first professional win, and it came in the form of three on the trot on the domestic tour. So, at the Indonesia President's Invitational right now, he can be excused for going around the course with a great degree of confidence. Whether it reflects in his scoring remains to be seen but we sure do hope that he will not have to wait for long for his maiden win on the Asian circuit. After having rubbed shoulders with the very best a week back in Turnberry, a win on Tour is not asking for too much, is it?

But he will not be the only one we will let our hopes rest on. Another young lad turned heads at the Black Mountain Masters. Big-hitting Anirban Lahiri was in contention through most of the final round till an adrenalin-filled second shot put a bogey in the works, and a title out of reach. The bogey aside, he showed enough potential to suggest he belongs in the big league. Fever may have laid him low for a while but after a brief coaching stint, fulfilling his sponsor commitments, Anirban looks fit enough to deliver on the promise as he gets back to the rigours of professional golf.

Ban Ban Lahiri

We insisted that the Black Mountain Masters was a small turning point for Indian golf but Anirban wouldn't go as far as to say that. He insists that would be a far too pompous pronouncement... Well, we will hold our horses for the time being but an impressive showing this week from the two would get us really excited about the next line of Indian golfers.

And while the two of them might be spearheading India's challenge, let's not forget a number of other Indian names in the mix. We would have absolutely no qualms if any one of them went on to steal the title. For all we care, as long as there is "IND" next to the winner's name nothing else really matters. Hey, don't you dare call us greedy!

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Shiv Struck Down By Cricket Bug

NO, this can't be happening! Surely not when you have just registered your first top-ten finish in Europe. Just when all of India, err, all of India's golfing public were trying to glue together Jeev's ribs, Shiv Kapur gives us another blow.

His pull-out from last week's Scottish Open was a mystery for most. Especially after that cheery picture we put up of Shiv 'Vivian' Kapur in the 'Caddies vs Players' cricket match on the day of the practice round. Well, as it turns out, Shiv, trying to effect a remarkable stop off his own bowling, busted his shoulder. While we are not sure if he managed to save a run but he sure did do his shoulder enough damage to ensure that a golf club stays out of his hand for a few weeks. He played a round-and-a-half at Loch Lomond but even that was unadvisable.

He told us that he hopes to be back for the Czech Open later this month. After the eighth-place finish at Munich, a climb up the merit list seemed to be in the offing. The injury might have derailed that plan for now but we sure do hope that he resumes his charge towards the top 60 at the earliest.

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Faltering First Step? Not Quite

The 138th Open Championship - Round One

Gagan surveys Turnberry with caddie Andrew Dearden

The sun shone nice and bright on Turnberry. No wonder it seemed like the recording from that 1977 Sunday was running on television. Tom Watson has provided the first day of the 2009 British Open a blockbuster script, but Gaganjeet Bhullar's opening-day show won't be only a footnote. Not when the name Tiger Woods will be entered in the same rung on the scoreboard. That's obviously not a fair enough reason to applaud Gagan though after his first competitive outing at Turnberry. And we found a better.

Gagan finished one-over 71, tied for the 68th spot. Not a fairytale beginning, but commendable considering the nervy beginning and a mid-round slump. Gagan's birdie lip-out on the first hole was followed, quite disastrously, by a triple after he overhit his putt on the par-four second and struggled to hole out despite having been on the green in three. He followed that up with a bogey, but found heart to strike rhythm and three straight birdies starting from the seventh.

But just in case you thought the nerves were gone, he made another mistake, giving away a double on the 14th after messing up his tee shot and getting back to four-over. But lo and behold, the three-birdie stretch was back -- from the 15 to the 17th -- as he finished pretty strongly, rescuing himself from going too deep down on the scoresheet.

As he said later: "Maybe I was just trying too hard. But ultimately, I was proud of the way I fought.

“It’s a pretty decent finish considering my shaky start. But after overcoming that, I slowly recovered and never looked back."

It's a morning tee-off for the debutant on Friday, and this time we hope, it's the score that does the dipping.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Raise The Curtains

The 138th Open Championship - Previews

It's a new dawn, you could say. Unfortunately, Gagan has been given a noon tee-off time. Oh well, bad jokes apart, today's the day our 21-year-old, who, till some months back, did not have even a single professional win to his name, will hear the words "Next on tee, Gaganjeet Bhullar" at the 138th British Open championship.

With Jeev having to drop out because of his still unhealed rib injury, Gagan had been left to play Tuesday's practice round by himself. But he's also risen to the challenge of being the only Indian representation at windy Turnberry. "These are big shoes to fill, but I'm mentally ready," he'd said.

Gagan has spent the last 15 days playing around Scotland's drive-testing links courses, including a few rounds at the Royal Troon. But it was the big-name, big-deal buzz at Turnberry that had him all charged up post last Thursday, and the big-hitter insisted he liked the course set-up too. Of course, Jeev's left behind some advice. "We played 18 holes together on Monday and he's basically told me that as long as I hit it flat I'll be alright," Gagan said.

But despite being surrounded by the fancy assembly line of golfing stars, the youngster hasn't quite chatted up anyone yet. "The big players like to keep to themselves at a big tournament," Gagan said. We'd like to hope he's chased for a few playing tips post Sunday!

Well whatever the case, it's going to be an experience to remember for a lifetime for Gagan. He tees off at 4:33 pm IST.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Genie: Time For Another Wish Pawan

It was a muggy afternoon, and the golf club just did not seem like the most inviting place. But there was no way we were going to miss our young guns slug it out under the bare sky for the spots on offer for the Indian team. The top eight amateurs and the two best juniors were completing the final rites of a eight-round trial to determine three of the four names for the Indian team for the Nomura Cup later this year.

The boys had played two rounds each at Golden Greens, Classic Golf Resort, DLF and one round at DGC before the final run on Saturday. Abhishek Jha and Rashid Khan had virtually sealed their spots. The latter completing the DLF leg with a two-day total of eight-under par. Pawan Kumar looked set to bag the third spot on offer with the IGU selection committee empowering itself to make one pick, to complete the four-man team.

We were a little late to get to the club, but it wasn't difficult to hunt down the five two-balls as we simply followed the beads of sweat that had lined the route to the 14th fairway. The rustling leaves and the 'swishes of disgruntlement' meant that we had reached the right place. It was Chikka's ball that had been lured by the thick bushes that line the fairways at the Delhi Golf Club.

And after that, the rest followed in a steady line, bathed in salted water, trying hard to hasten their return to the clubhouse. Pawan's five-shot cushion had melted away and a double bogey on the 14th put him four behind Karan Vasudeva.

The 24-year-old late bloomer had told us earlier this year that his one dream was to play for India and he was just one of two players in the ten-man field yet to represent the country in an international tournament. The other being Arshdeep Tiwana. But a 12-over final round, and a 17-over sojourn through his home course was something that Pawan didn't expect but that's exactly what happened. It had left the young man disheartened.

Pawan finishing his final-round ordeal on Saturday


As luck would have it, the IGU, rather wisely, chose to pick the top four, which means Pawan's passport, right about now, is walking towards the Korean embassy for a little tete-a-tete. One thing is for sure, it won't be the much-in-fad big white belts easily available in Korea, but a chance to represent India that will have him counting down the days to the big meet in September.

And what is it about these belts? That, unfortunately, is one department where we will have to plead ignorance.

The Indian team for the Asia Pacific Amateur Team Championship-:

Abhishek Jha
Rashid Khan
Karan Vasudeva
Pawan Kumar

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Oh Deere Oh Deere

Tragic, we'd like to believe! Perhaps, we cast the heebie-jeebies on them but after looking forward to the two big tournaments last week with such great anticipation, despair was writ large on our faces.

For the second consecutive week, SSP Chowrasia was the only Indian golfer to make the cut in an European Tour event. What's going on there? But unfortunately, he hugged the bottom of the leaderboard through the weekend at the Scottish Open, and that was more than just a tad disappointing. Arjun Atwal, making his long-awaited return on the PGA Tour, failed to make it to the weekend at the John Deere Classic. We sure do hope that he gets back to top form at the earliest. He needs to, if he hopes to secure his Tour card for next season.

Interestingly, a question we harboured for long was finally answered this Sunday at the Delhi Golf Club. The famed who-in-the-good-lord's-name-is-John-Deere mystery remains a mystery no more-:


John Deere is the official golf course equipment supplier on the PGA Tour, or so claimed the monster-vehicle beautifying the fairways of DGC.

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