CHENNAI: TWENTY nineteen was a sort of annus horribilis for Indian golf. Established names missed cuts while upcoming names struggled. But one man battled the tide. At the start of the year, Rashid Khan was World No 784.
How times change? Twelve months later, the Delhi-based golfer, thanks to a string of impressive results in India as well as in Asia, is India’s No 1 golfer. A sixth-place finish at the Hong Kong Open to begin the year meant he breached the top-200 (No 194) for the first time. If he continues like this, he is odds on to qualify for Olympics. He is currently No 55 in the Tokyo rankings list and that curve is going only one way. North.
That’s one of the first things Khan does after every tournament, see that chart. “I am keeping a track of it every week,” he tells this daily from Singapore. “I wanted to improve my ranking, so I was playing with full confidence and focus.” He has used those two allies for a long time now. One only needs to look at his WhatsApp status to get a peek into the kind of person he is. “Turning can’t into can, dream into plans,” it says.
His ability to focus and compartmentalise played a key role during a rocky 2019 that also included a fight with the Delhi Golf Club. It’s not yet resolved and he says: “(I) can’t help it that they don’t want me to be there. I don’t like going there when a player doesn’t get respect just because he is from a middle-class family and someone who was not born with a silver spoon.”
So how did he do it? “You can do well in anything if you know what your good and weak points are,” It sounds minimalistic, but it has worked for him. “I just play my own game and the results have followed, so why bother about something that is working for me?” Even though it has worked, he lays bare the unforgiving nature of the sport in the first place. He maybe India’s best by rankings but he has been playing without a sponsor for the last eight years. “Whatever money I am earning through golf, I reinvest. It’s tough but that’s the way it has always been. I am not complaining.”
When the inevitable question — when will an Indian next win on the Asian Tour — is asked, Khan is quick to counter that. “We are all fighting, it will be sooner rather than later.” With a tally of one-under after 14 holes on a truncated first day of the Singapore Open, Khan was tied 33rd.