Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh gets final chance to end title drought

Barring Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar, all top Indians will tee off at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club, hoping to break the duck.
Jeev Milkha Singh (File photo/PTI)
Jeev Milkha Singh (File photo/PTI)

CHENNAI: "Some of our players have come close without being able to finish it off. If you are doing that and learning from those situations, you are in with a chance," Jeev Milkha Singh had told this newspaper in October, when asked about the title drought endured by Indian golfers up to that point this year on the European and Asian Tours.

On Thursday in Pattaya, where the year’s last Asian Tour event kicks off, Jeev will be there with 11 other Indians, all looking for that elusive title. After the high of the last three years when nine Indian pros logged 18 international wins, finishing 2019 without one will be a blow. But that’s a spectre staring them at the moment ahead of the Thailand Masters.

Barring Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar, all top Indians will tee off at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club, hoping to break the duck. Other than veterans Jeev, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, there will be Shiv Kapur, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Rashid Khan. The last three have come close, but couldn’t finish it off. Between the three, they have five second-place finishes this year.

"I don’t know about winning or losing, but I am ready to give my 100 per cent and score well. I’m feeling great, after having played some consistent golf throughout the year," said Rashid, who has come second once this year, other than finishing in the top five three more times. "Every player wants to win and in order to achieve that, I’m just focussing on scoring well. At the moment, it’s about doing the best I can. The rest we’ll see after 72 holes."

Starting the year at 784th in the world rankings, Rashid has moved up to 209th, which makes him the best-ranked Indian at the moment. The player from Delhi was in contention before seeing his chances go up in smokes over the last four holes at the Classic Golf & Country Club Championship in Nuh (Haryana) in September. Winner of two Asian Tour crowns in 2014, he is still to taste success after those, which should make him eager to better his tied-10th finish at the same event in the same course in 2018.

Sandhu is another one harbouring expectations following two runners-up showings this year. This Chandigarh pro was among the Indian winners in 2017 and believes that it’s just a matter of time before someone bucks the trend. "We’ve all been there and done that. Having been through the situations we know what it takes. But sometimes you do well without winning. That has happened this year and I think someone will soon nail one," Sandhu had said a few weeks back.

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