By IANS
New Delhi : Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa is in line to become only the second golfer to win the Indian Open title three times.
If he is successful at the Hero Honda Indian Open this week, the 2000 and 2006 winner will join Australia’s Peter Thomson as the only other player to have won the title on three occasions.
Interestingly, this year’s field has one more player who could join Thomson as a rare three-time winner in Ali Sher, winner in 1991 and 1993. While Ali Sher may be considered a long shot for the crown, the same cannot be said about Randhawa.
The field also includes Peter Senior, who makes his debut at the Hero Honda Indian Open at the Delhi Golf Club this week.
Senior, whose relationship with Asia goes back to the time he was born in Singapore, is in the line of great Australian champions, who have made a big mark in world golf.
The 48-year-old Senior, who has the experience of playing on the European, Japan and US PGA tours, has had most success on his home tour in Australia.
There is one memorable picture of him posing with the past champions of Australian PGA Tour and the group includes Peter Thomson (1964, 1966 and 1976), Graham Marsh (1971 and 1973) and Stewart Ginn (1992), three of the five Australians who have won the Indian Open in their illustrious careers.
Senior will now be hoping to join this elite band of Australians.
The history of Indian Open itself owes a lot to Thomson, the five-time British Open champion. The Australian was instrumental in persuading the then officials of Indian golf into launching the Indian Open in 1964 with the promise that he would coax some of the best players to come to India.
That was a promise he kept and he himself came back again and again and won three times besides finishing in top-10 countless other times.
Australians and Americans have won the Indian Open most times.
Golfers from the two countries have managed to get their names etched onto the trophy nine times each. The next on the list is India with six different players winning title on eight occasions.
Golfers from Taiwan have emerged champions on five occasions, while Japanese players have won four times, including twice by Kenji Hosoishi (1967 and 1968).