Ten interesting facts about Indian golfers at major tournaments

Anirban Lahiri is set to make his ninth major appearance when he tees off at Oakmont, venue of the 116th US Open. Here are ten interesting facts about Indian golfers at golf’s four major championships 

• Gaurav Ghei became the first Indian to play at a major tournament, when he played the only major of his path breaking career at the Open in 1997. He missed the cut, but opened new vistas for Indian golf.
• Jeev Milkha Singh leads the appearance count, having played 13 major tournaments in his illustrious career
• Jeev is the only other Indian golfer to have earned a top ten finish at a major tournament. He finished T9 at the PGA Championship in 2008
• Arjun Atwal has suffered the misfortune of never making a cut in a major tournament despite attending five events in his career. Open (2004), PGA Championship (2005 & 2011), US Open (2010) and the Masters (2011)
• Only three Indians have played each of the four majors at least once – Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Anirban Lahiri
• The best finish by an Indian at a major tournament is Lahiri’s tied fifth at the PGA Championship last year
• The best Indian finish at the Masters is Jeev Milkha Singh’s T25 in the 2008 edition of the tournament
• The best result at the Open belongs to Jyoti Randhawa. He finished T24 at the Royal Troon in the 133rd edition of the tournament
• The mark to beat for Lahiri when he tees off at Oakmont will be Shiv Kapur’s T23, which he achieved at the 2014 US Open
• An Indian golfer has lead at a major tournament just once. This was when Jeev was tied for the lead with Robert Karlsson after the first round of the 2008 US Open