Arjun Atwal exuded confidence of a good showing by him and other Indians golfers in the $2.5 million prize money Emmar-MGF Indian Masters.
NEW DELHI: Ace pro Arjun Atwal on Tuesday exuded confidence of a good showing by him and other Indians golfers in the $2.5 million prize money Emmar-MGF Indian Masters to be held here from February 7 to 10.
Atwal was asked if there was a chance of an Indian winning this week and he shot back ''I hope so. I definitely hope so.''
'' I really do like playing here. In fact, my last win in '03 was on this golf course, so, you know, I'm looking forward to this,'' he added.
Other top ranked Indians taking part in the event include among others Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur .
Saying that he has practised really hard on his game, US based golfer Arjun Atwal said ''I had three months off, so I practiced really hard and worked on my game and it's pretty good. You know, I played one tournament on the Nationwide Tour in Panama, and finished tied fifth so getting the right step two weeks ago.''
Like Jeev, he also admitted that Delhi Golf Course (DGC), venue of the event, is a difficult.
''I grew up playing in Delhi so much, but it always brings back good memories, and some of the changes, you know, are good, but some are a little weird for me. You know, I've seen this golf course without any of the bunkers and all that stuff, so I guess that makes it harder. But it's in good shape.''
Replying to a query whether there is an advantage to the Indian players on this course, Atwal said ''If they haven't made all those changes it would be a huge advantage but I think it's a pretty fair playing field right now.''
''You know, I played it for the first time with the changes yesterday, and I thought, this golf course is like way different from when we played it on the Asian Tour events and all that. I don't think there's really much advantage for the Indians, except for maybe the greens because growing up on these greens, you learn most of the lines on the greens,'' he added.
He was of the view that hosting of this level of tournament will give big boost to the game in the country ''I think there's going to be more awareness of professional golf.I mean, there is a little bit already considering after '95, there wasn't that much.But having guys like Ernie and later Vijay Singh and Adam Scott coming for the Johnnie Walker, having these events in India is going to be huge.''
Will golf catch up with cricket in terms of popularity in India, he was asked and his reply was candid ''I don't think so, because cricket is a religion in India. I don't think golf will catch up with it but I think it can become the second most popular sport in this country.''
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