By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
Bangalore : It may have been a long international circuit for both S.S.P. Chowrasia and Rahil Gangjee, but both are raring to go at the Rs.3. million Global Green Bangalore Open golf tournament.
With the Asian Tour and all other international tours taking the year-end break, the focus is firmly on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI)’s Bangalore Open, which is now in its third event and offers a winner’s cheque of Rs.4,84,950.
The wet conditions may have been a dampener for those wanting to take an early look at the re-laid back nine of the Karnataka Golf Association course during the Pro-Am. Those scheduled to play in the morning like Gangjee, Chowrasia, Harmeet Kahlon, Amandeep Johl and others did get to play on it, but the conditions were rather soggy.
However those in the afternoon did not manage even that as the second session was cancelled because persistent rain. The weatherman has predicted more rain for Thursday.
Apart from Chowrasia and Gangjee, the field has all the other top Indians on the PGTI Tour. Digvijay Singh, the top Indian behind the Order of Merit leader, Singaporean Lam Chih Bing, heads the field which also includes last year’s top money winner, Ashok Kumar, who finished seventh in his only appearance at the BILT Open this season.
The other experienced stars are Amandeep Johl, Uttam Singh Mundy, Arjun Singh and Vivek Bhandari. Leading a bunch of young golfers is Gaganjeet Bhullar, who finished fifth on the Order of Merit in his rookie year last season besides coming close to an Asian Tour win.
The Rookie Brigade is led by Anirban Lahiri, the winner of the Q-School, Raj Randhawa, runner-up at the Q-School and Kolkata’s Ranjit Singh, son of Bunny Lakshman Singh, the 1982 Asian Games gold medallist. Ranjit was fourth at the Q-School. Other young stars in the field are Himmat Singh Rai, Shaurya Singh, Chiragh Kumar and Ragav Wahi.
Barring the Big Four, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur and Gaurav Ghei, all recovering from a hectic international season, all other major stars are in the field.
In the two events held so this season, Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing won the BILT Open with Digvijay Singh second, and at the IOC X-Tra Premium Masters veteran Mukesh Kumar triumphed over Rahul Ganapathy.
Gangjee, third at the season-opener in BILT Open, and Chowrasia seventh at the same event, have had a successful season on the Asian Tour, finishing 41st and 37th in the Order of Merit.
“It is always great to come back to the home tour. As for the changes on the courses, I still love the old greens. They were the best in India. I am waiting to see how the re-laid back nine with new greens play. Today, I felt the old ones were better, but there was also rain,” said Chowrasia.
Gangjee, who has played more than 32 weeks this year said he was tired. “I may be tired but I am also happy with my game. I finished well at Volvo Masters in tied 12th place and was third at the Hero Honda Indian Open. I was also 14th in Vietnam. Overall, finishing inside top-40 on Merit list (he was 37th) was satisfying, though I did better in 19th place the year before,” said Gangjee.
“I’ve always liked playing at KGA, but have not done too well, so maybe this time I will change that.”