Khalin Joshi – Panasonic Open India win means a lot

28 October 2018: Khalin Joshi was marked for success very early in his career. It has been five years since he turned professional and the wait for victory was long and painstaking. The 26-year-old has won several times on the PGTI TOUR and scored seven top tens on the Asian Tour. Victory at the Delhi Golf Club helps Khalin affirm his potential and secure his future on the Asian Tour.

In this interview immediately after winning the tournament, Khalin shared his joy at winning the Panasonic Open India.

Khalin, a huge sigh of relief for you?
Sure, I have no words honestly. It’s a huge monkey off 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 aggressively. 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 paid off

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What do you think worked in your favour?

Like I said I played very aggressive. This year I played very differently 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.

Siddikur made a birdie on the 17^th, you made a birdie on the 17^th. What was going through your mind on the 18th?

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 aggressively 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.

What does it mean to win over here in India?

It means the world to me. Winning any way 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.