November 04, 2015: Indians have a stellar record at the Delhi Golf Club and even more when it comes to the Panasonic Open India. The past three editions have produced three Indian winners and the local field for the upcoming edition is equally strong.
Rahil Gangjee, who lost in a play-off to last year’s winner, SSP Chawrasia, has since got back into decent form, and Chiragh Kumar, a runner-up at the recent Macao Open last month, has also had a runner-up finish at his home course DGC in 2011, and looks ready to grab his maiden Asian Tour title.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is slowly running back into form after fighting injuries for almost a year, is keen to get back into the winners’ circle and add to the five Asian Tour titles he has already won. Rashid Khan won his maiden title at DGC and then added one more in Thailand and he will be looking to get one more this week.
The ‘experienced lot’ includes one of India’s star golfers, Jyoti Randhawa, who these days often spends time skydiving and other Adventure sports, and Digvijay Singh, who has similar hobbies, and is also a former winner at Panasonic Open India. Randhawa has eight Asian Tour titles, of which four have been at DGC.
“I love playing at the DGC and I think it is a great course. It is nice to be back on a golf course after a break in Slovenia, where I was doing skydiving,” said Randhawa, whose last Asian Tour win was in 2009 in Thailand.
Chiragh Kumar, who was part of the Indian team (that team included Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar) which won the silver medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, enjoyed a second place result at the Delhi course in his National Open in 2011 but struggled with an ankle injury in the following year.
He returned to his best form after contending for the Venetian Macao Open title three weeks ago against inaugural Panasonic Open India winner Anirban Lahiri and eventual Macao Open champion Scott Hend of Australia.
“Having a good result gives you a lot of confidence but what’s more important is that I contended against Scott and Anirban! I was able to keep up with them and that gives me a lot of confidence and makes me believe that I can be out there and play against them.
“I know this course well and if I can stick to my routine and process then I should be okay. I won’t complain about Macao. I played well enough but Scott played better and he deserved to win. To be honest, I won’t complain if I had a week like that every week!” said Kumar.
And then there is a whole bunch of youngsters from S Chikkrangappa, who last week defended his Asian Development Tour title at the Takes Solutions Masters in Bengaluru, his fellow Karnataka golfer, Khalin Joshi, runner-up at Bangladesh Open on Asian Tour, apart from 19-year-old Shubhankar Sharma, Himmat Rai and many others.
Bhullar said, “I am getting back to my old game and I am now more confident and am trusting my swing. I had good weeks in Macao and Hong Kong and am looking forward to the Panasonic Open this week.”
Digvijay Singh, the 2012 Panasonic Open India winner, will draw confidence from his winning memories three years ago as he hopes to bounce back from missing the halfway cuts in five appearances this year.
“I remember the win almost like it happened yesterday,” he smiled. I’ve had a bad patch in the last seven months. I’ve struggled on the Asian Tour. Hopefully it will be better starting from this week.”
“I’ve only realised in these last few years that this game is about the few inches between your ears. Sometimes you doubt yourself and that’s the time when you need to pick up the pieces and keep moving on. Doubts will only make it worst,” Singh explained.
