CHENNAI: The European Tour is all set to restart in July but one player who won't be joining the caravan anytime soon is Gaganjeet Bhullar. The 32-year-old thinks the time isn't right yet. "Yes, I think all of us got mails yesterday (Thursday) informing us about the restart dates," he told The New Indian Express. "But I think it's just too risky at the moment to go play."
The revised European Tour schedule will tentatively have 24 events running up to December. The first six tournaments are all in the UK. The mails were silent about travel plans and if there would be quarantine measures in place for people coming in to the UK.
Bhullar is waiting for clarity. "I am waiting for a further email or two because this one was silent on people who would have to travel to the UK. This I think is only for golfers who are based in the UK. There is no clarity yet on travel rules," said the golfer from Punjab.
"Take my case for example. I have to fly from New Delhi to London and that's a good eight-hour flight. So would I have to quarantine myself first and what happens to the accommodation? The mail doesn't mention any of that. Even if one passenger on the flight is infected, you are at risk of catching the virus. So as of now I won't be taking part." Considering there are no regular flights between the UK and India at the moment, Bhullar doesn't even know if he will even be able to fly.
"It's good to write a story on the newspaper about the guy who is joining the Tour and the guy who is not going to join... the reality as a player is very different."
Another pro who is contemplating skipping the European Tour is SSP Chawrasia. "It's less than two months. I am very confused because we don't know if international flights will be restarted then. And I don't think the situation is conducive enough to travel anyway. It's still very risky and there are lots of cases."
The player based in Kolkata is also behind many Indian golfers in the sense that he hasn't even started training yet. "The club (where he trains) may open only next month... there is still no electricity in some of our houses because of the cyclone. We are just waiting at the moment."
Attempts to reach Shubhankar Sharma, the other Indian who has been a constant presence on the European Tour, went in vain.
One option for Indian golfers is to play in the PGTI this season and in the Asian Tour when it restarts. Rashid Khan said they may restart in September. "I heard they are planning to restart in late September so keeping my fingers crossed," he said.