India need Jeev to do well

Jyoti Randhawa

I see a very bright, excellent 2007 for Indian golf. Everything is running in the positive direction.

Thanks to Jeev Milkha Singh’s superb achievements, the confidence amongst the Indian players has grown manifold.

A new Tour has been introduced on the Indian circuit, which offers prize money worth 50-60 lakhs — I can’t think of many sports in India which offer that kind of prize money.

There has been a huge awakening when it comes to golf. The last three-four years have been great towards the development of this sport in the country, and I expect 2007 to be no different.

Another reason why I think golf will do well is because the Indian economy is doing well, booming, to be precise, and that is something that will have a tremendous effect on the growth of golf in this part of the world.

Talking about international golf, there is no reason to not to believe that Tiger Woods will continue to rule in 2007. In fact, I think nobody will be able to catch up with him for the next 10 years!

He is 30 right now, and should be at the peak of his game at least till 42.

I’ll be playing on the European Tour, the American Tour, and a few times on the Asian Tour this year. I hope to improve on 2006, a year in which I finished sixth in the Asian Order of Merit, and won the Indian Open.

I expect Jeev to come up with more magic in 2007. He is going through a blue patch at the moment. I wish all the best for him. His success enthuses everybody around him, and that includes me and Arjun Atwal, as well.

It is important for Indian golf that Jeev keeps performing like this. Seeing an Indian succeed makes us feel positive as well.

Last may not have been an year to remember for Atwal, but I expect him to bounce back very strongly, and reproduce the form he displayed in 2004. We must also remember that he played on the US Tour on a regular basis last year — the toughest tour in the world.

Had he played on the Asian Tour, he would have won a few events.
SSP Chaurasia, 2002 Busan Asian Games gold medalist Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Gurbaj Mann and Amardeep Malik are the Indian golfers I think will do well this year.

I rest my hopes with them because they are hard-working, confident, they have the right attitude, and above all, have the hunger to excel.

To capitalize on our superb achievements of the last few years, we need to build more public golf courses. We must give our golfers more international competition, more facilities, and try and take golf to the interiors of the country, in places like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, where we may find a lot of raw, exciting talent.

All in all, with the way things are going at the moment, I envisage an Indian winning a Major within the next ten years.

(As told to Gaurav Gupta)