Total Recall: Jyoti Randhawa

September 21, 2013. The year was 2004, in an action packed Volvo Masters of Asia, India’s Jyoti Randhawa beat Australian Terry Pilkadaris in a play-off to lift the US$550,000 event title.

“It was a great finish,” said Randhawa, whose triumph in the Volvo Masters of Asia earned him an invitation into the following year’s WGC-NEC Invitational. “This was one of the most exciting rounds of golf I’ve played since my Indian Open win in 2000 which also had a tight leaderboard. It was nerve-wrecking but I handled myself well and I was very focussed. Dropping shots yesterday put me in a good position as I didn’t have anything to lose.”

The event was held at the Kota Permai Golf & Country Club in Malaysia from December 09-12.

[highlight] This was one of the most exciting rounds of golf I’ve played since my Indian Open win in 2000 which also had a tight leaderboard [/highlight]

Randhawa ended the Asian Tour season on a glorious note by draining a 15-foot birdie putt in the second hole of a sudden-death shootout. The Indian’s victory, worth US$99,000, was his first success that year and it prevented Pilkadaris from a third title in four months.

The Aussie hauled himself into contention with an impressive seven-under-par 65 in the final round but Randhawa forced a play-off by holing an eight-foot birdie at the par five 18th hole in regulation en route to a 67.

Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand shared the Third place and Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei after matching 72s while Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee finished fifth to lift the Asian Tour Order of Merit crown that year.

In the play-off, Randhawa and Pilkadaris birdied the first extra hole, which was played on the 18th. Pilkadaris looked to have wrapped it up by setting up a seven-foot birdie chance while Randhawa sent his chip well past the flag. But in a stunning turn-around, the Indian star rolled home his putt and with the pressure on, Pilkadaris agonisingly missed his attempt to end the gripping contest.

For Randhawa the win was timely as he started doubting his game following a winless year where he also plays his golf in Japan. “I started to doubt myself after making a few swing changes. I’ve not won for nearly two years but my coach Kel Llewellyn told me to be patient. It’s a great thing to win as my confidence will just go up.”

“It’s a nice Christmas present. I’ll put in a thousand dollars to make it US$100,000 in total. Anytime you win, it is significant. Terry played great, I wished him well and applauded some of his shots as he played some good golf,” said the then 32-year-old Indian, whose win was his fifth career title in Asia.

Source: Asian Tour