Hero Women’s Indian Open – Interview with Neha Tripathi

Neha Tripathi will be looking for a big week at the DLF Golf & Country Club when she tees off in the Hero Women's Indian Open

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Sep 03, 2019: Neha Tripathi is one of the few Indian golfers with experience on the Ladies European Tour. The ever-improving golfer will have another opportunity to make a mark when she tees off this week in the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Neha is currently lying second on the Indian tour’s order of merit.

What Does the Women’s Indian Open mean to you?

Indian Open is the biggest tournament that we have in the entire season and it is also co-sanctioned with the European Tour event. This gives us an opportunity to play with players from across the world. Also, it is a platform where we could do really well and put India at the front as India is still a developing country when it comes to golf. Now there has been an increase in the women’s tour this year so it’s just a great learning tournament for everybody. Most of us are out there to just make the country and ourselves proud.

How prepared are you for the tournament?

I have been in and around DLF course a bit specially because it is my home course and it is my sponsor’s place as well. I think I have been able to get around five to six around a month besides the fact that we are always away for our tournaments. Apart from that, there is never enough that you can put in to always think that you are ready. It is more about when you are out there, your mental state matters as in how you are feeling on that day. So the tournament will tell about how I am feeling about it –whether I feel prepared or not but it is about whatever you are feeling, you just go out there and give it your best shot.

I could be a 100 percent prepared and not do well or I could not be prepared and probably win the tournament. And knowing the fact that we get the opportunity to play at DLF at whichever point in the year that we can, it puts us at ease to be able to use the facility and getting as much course knowledge as we can. It puts us in a better place.

How has the season been for you?

I started with a win in the first tournament of the season and after that it has been up and down with my scores and results. I have really not been giving too much thought to how I am playing as I am working on a couple of changes with my coach since the last year. I feel that it is a progression and I feel I am in a better place right now. No matter how the tournaments have been in the past and how they will be, I have been happy and it matters the most and let’s see how the next week goes so I can work on whatever is missing in the game as we still have a month to prepare for the Indian Open.

One more win on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour this season. But what is it with three and you? Seems like that is your number on the Order of Merit, with you sitting there every season from 2014?

You cannot really relate your position to how you’ve been playing through the year because I could be sixth but I don’t know how I always end up being at number three. It kind off feels like it is the number for me even though I have been trying really hard to get to number one. I have just kind of slipped in the last couple of events because of the new techniques I am trying with my coach. Even though the aim is to be number one, the bigger picture is to get ready for something that is coming up next year. I think my preparation is more related to my goal for the year instead of just focusing on what I am midway through the year. And there are still some events to go so anything could happen.

What do you think is the big transition needed when you play on the Ladies European Tour? Our golfers, with the exception of Aditi Ashok, haven’t been able to make a big impression yet?

Aditi has been playing tournaments outside from a very young. She got a real good exposure from going into the qualifying tour for European Tour, for the LPGA and she has made a mark for herself on both the tours. She has won three-four events on the European Tour already. I think it is more about gaining experience, the more you put yourself out there and get used to the conditions.

It gets a little overwhelming when you get to a place where there are 20 girls competing to a place where there are 120 girls competing. It comes down to mentally being able to take that pressure because I do feel that there are a lot of players in our country who have got the right game. It is all a matter of some time and everyone is going to do well. I see so many of them doing really well and coming up with good scores on the Indian courses. Not much of a difference outside, the length could be a little more on the European Tour but that’s the real obstacle.

Tell us a bit of the rest of the year and how you may have planned out your calendar?

Most likely we will have two events in November and then the season breaks for the next season to start in January. We obviously still have Indian Open to go.

 

By Poorvi Gupta