Oct 28, 2018: After lifting the title, with a brilliant win at Panasonic Open India 2018, Khalin Joshi was caught to have a small round of discussion to share his feelings.
Q: Khalin, a huge sigh of relief for you?
KJ: Sure, I have no words honestly. It’s a huge monkey of my back. I think I played really well…Kept my nerves and played really solid coming in. The last 4 holes were key for me. Like all night I was thinking about the 16th hole tee shot because that tee shot has haunted me for a while now.
You know I am really relieved and really happy. I don’t know if it was nerves but just poor decision making I guess, starting off with two bogeys. But I still knew that there was a lot of golf to be played. I was playing well and it was just a matter of time. You know the birdie I made on 8th gave me a lot of confidence that I am not very far away and I got to keep sticking to my game plan, I got to keep playing aggressive. You know like that’s all I did. Then again I hit the driver on 18th and I played very aggressive and that’s what payed off.
Q: What do you think worked in your favour?
KJ: Like I said I played very aggressive. This year I played very different from the previous years. I have seen many of the past champions going for it in 2 on the par 5’s. but I have been hitting 3 irons in the past. You know it was just believing in myself and playing aggressive golf. That was key for me this week.
Q: Siddikur made a birdie on the 17th, you made a birdie on the 17th. What was going through your mind on the 18th?
KJ: I just knew I had the advantage because he didn’t have a driver. So I just knew that I had to keep it in play. But he had a great putt. You know he made a great putt on top of me, which is unbelievable but I just believed in myself. I played aggressive and I got a bad bounce just in the rough. But hitting it in the fairways keeping it out of the bush is key over here.
Q: What does it mean to win over here in India?
KJ: It means the world to me. Winning anyway was great but winning at Delhi Golf club was unbelievable. All the spectators and crowd over here were very supportive. I have a bunch of friends over here, it means a lot and hopefully I gave them a good show.
For me the world ranking points, jumping up in the order of merit in the Asian tour was key. Going forward and playing as good as I am playing. I have four big weeks coming up after this. I am going to go back work on my game and come back fresh for Hong Kong.
Just gives me a sense of satisfaction for sure. I have been close a few times, a bunch of my friends have won. All of my close friends have won. I told Rahil at the start of the week that I am leaving Bangalore, I hope I can be the Indian Panasonic Open champion and here I am standing with the trophy. Just very happy with the way I played all week, it has obviously given me a great sense of satisfaction.