AT the beginning of this year, the European PGA Tour was making a stopover in Malaysia and Singapore for a couple of joint sanctioned events with the Asian PGA Tour. The then world No. 5 and the defending Masters champion, Vijay Singh, was the star-attraction of both the tournaments (and he went on to win them as well).
Now, Vijay traces his roots to the State of Rajasthan and has a soft corner for us Indian players on the Tour. During the Singapore Masters, he invited Arjun Atwal, Amandeep Johl and myself for a practice round before the event.
Vijay, who started his career in perhaps what is the only golf course in Fiji, has achieved legendary status in golf. He struggled as a journeyman in the 80s in the erstwhile Asian Tour before moving on to Europe. It wasn't long before his legendary work ethics started bearing fruits and he is today one of the most respected and feared players in the world. Naturally, we were all excited about playing with him.
In the course of what was turning out to be an extremely interesting and educating round, Vijay casually asked about the state of golf in India. When I told him that an Indian professional is playing almost 25 weeks without stepping out of the country and is vying for more than $500,000 on the domestic circuit, he nearly duffed his chip in surprise! After all, when he came to India in the 80s, the highest prize money in an Indian Tour event used to be about Rs. 2 lakh and the total prize money was about Rs. 15 lakh from 15-odd events!!
Thereafter, Vijay was a most interested listener. I told him how our Indian boys were performing on the Asian PGA Tour, about the new talents back home, about the two Asian PGA Tour events in India - the Hero Honda Masters and the Indian Open - the new designer courses and the general rise in interest in the game.
The next day, Vijay was asked in a press conference as to how Singapore can produce better golfers. His answer was crisp, "Follow the system set by India and Thailand."
In the last few years, I have played extensively in Asia, Europe and Japan. I have arrived at the conclusion that the most basic requirement for producing world class players is to have a strong domestic Tour. In Asia, Japan has perhaps the best domestic Tour (the Japanese PGA Tour is on a par with the European PGA Tour), followed by Korea and India.
The recent results on the Asian PGA Tour events show that the real performers have come from three countries - Korea, Thailand and India. The Order of Merit reflects this. The top is crammed with names like Charlie Wi, Anthony Kang, Kang Wook-soon and Yang Yong-eun (all Korea), the Thai brigade of Thongchai Jaidee, Prayad Marksaeng, Thaworn Wiratchant and Thammanoon Sriroj, while the Indians are represented by Arjun Atwal, Jyoti Randhawa, Vivek Bhandari, Arjun Singh and Amandeep Johl.
Of these three countries, players from Korea and Thailand have been blessed by the fact that they possess excellent facilities, several world-class courses, cheap equipment and almost a religion-like fervour for the game. It would have been close to blasphemy if Korea and Thailand did not produce quality players. Also, the impact of Tiger Woods and his Thai lineage has been a huge motivating factor in that country.
Compared to Korea and Thailand, we are even worse than a third-world country in golfing economy standards. We have just about 200 courses in the entire country, only one public course and almost all the equipment have to be imported. Then why have we been able to produce some outstanding players in the last few years?
I think we Indians are genetically enriched when it comes to skills and mind games. So, while we may no longer be the best hockey team in the world where brute power is fast replacing dexterity and deftness with the stick, and may languish at the 115th place in the FIFA World Ranking as a footballing nation, we continue to produce the best surgeons and have several players in the top echelons of software industry and world chess, led by the World Champion Viswanathan Anand himself. Golf is a game that asks for skill and intelligence.
The other factor is parental support. I know for sure that Atwal, Jyoti and myself are lucky to have parents who have whole-heartedly supported our passion for golf.
At times, they have also pushed us to go for those extra hours of practice that have made such a huge difference in our games.
As a community, we Indians are lucky that our parents keep supporting us throughout. Sometimes too much involvement may become a hindrance.
However, the fact that your family believes in you and your ambitions can be the best thing any kid can ask for.
Finally, all skill and talent is wasted if there is no platform to showcase it. Indian professional golf has been extremely lucky in this regard.
There are several tournaments on the domestic circuit now and the prize money is very decent. Things have been looking up ever since the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) took a visionary step and decided to hand over the marketing and management rights of the Tour to a professional company, Tiger Sports Marketing.
Not many sports federations have the courage to take a similar step in India for several selfish reasons. A dedicated marketing push has seen the prize money multiplying almost three times since 1996, when about Rs. 85 lakh was the total prize purse on the Tour. Today, the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour offers Rs. 2.5 crores in prize money, and the two Asian PGA Tour events augments their earning potential by $600,000. Not only is professional golf the fastest growing sport in the country, it is also perhaps the second richest after cricket!
In the 2000-01 season of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, 53 players earned more than a lakh of rupees.
I have also seen that most of the professional golfers manage some kind of sponsorship to cover their lodging, boarding and travelling costs.
With the kind of earning possibilities provided by the Indian Tour, as well as the Asian PGA Tour, golf is becoming a viable career option for youngsters, which is sure to attract more talent to the game.
It is precisely this reason that we have more and more amateur golfers turning pro in our country. Those who have turned pro, now want to graduate from the Indian Tour to the Asian PGA Tour. Performers in Asia like Arjun Atwal and Jyoti are keen to make it to the US PGA Tour.
The circle of life is operating in full force for Indian golf. I think the time is not far when our golfers will be making the biggest noise in international sports.
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