BENGALURU: In the last five years, Khalin Joshi has made quite a name for himself on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). It was in 2016 when people started to take notice of him. Why? Not every year do you see a golfer bagging 11 top-10 finishes in 12 events on the PGTI tour. But the Bengaluru golfer wasn’t content with his success in India. Khalin wanted to prove himself in a stronger field on the Asian and European Tour.
While he continued his good PGTI show with seven top-10 finishes out of 13 last year, an international title remained elusive. His performances in Asian and European Tour events also wasn’t something to boast about. The 26-year-old finally got his hands on an international title at the Panasonic Open in October. The triumph on the Asian Tour ensured he retained his card for 2019 while propelling him to the No 1 spot on the PGTI Order of Merit. With an event still to go, Khalin claimed the PGTI Order of Merit title for the first time in his career.
“It was always on my list and to finally win it is a dream come true. So many legends have won it and to be named among them is an amazing feeling,” said Khalin. Statistically, the current season hasn’t been great for Khalin. He finished in the top 10 four times and inside the top 20 five more times out of 28 events (including PGTI competitions), while he missed the cut on eight occasions. “I have had good weeks and bad weeks. But when you win a title, you cannot term it as a bad year. I would say it has been a good year so far.
The title made me believe that I belong at this level and my game is good enough to compete at a higher level,” he said. Prior to the Panasonic Open, it was the mental aspect that he needed to work on. While Khalin overcame that obstacle, he will look to improve his allround game in the off-season to cement his place in a strong Asian and European field. “What I lacked was consistency and that is something I have to work on.
Once I finish playing in the the Tata Open in Jamshedpur, I will analyse the whole year and work on all aspects of my game” said India’s fifth highest ranked player at 256th in the World Golf Rankings. “The ultimate goal is to play regularly on the PGA Tour. To do that, I need to play well consistently on the European Tour. The first target is to secure my card for the Asian Tour and then I can focus more on European events. That will be my target apart from trying to break into the top 100.”