By IANS
Jakarta : It will be one of India’s biggest golf contingents in a professional event outside of the Indian subcontinent, as 13 Indians tee off at the inaugural Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational on Thursday, despite the top Indians taking the week off or playing in Europe and the US.
More than a dozen Indians have entered this week’s $350,000 Asian Tour event at Damai Indah Golf, BSD Course.
The Indians in the fray are Firoz Ali, Amardip Malik, Arjun Singh, Gagangjeet Bhullar, Vivek Bhandari, Harmeet Kahlon, Amandeep Johl, Uttam Singh Mundy, Vikrant Chopra, Naman Dawar, Digvijay Singh, Gurbaaz Mann and Chiragh Kumar.
Some of the top Indians taking the week off or playing elsewhere include Jeev Milkha Singh who plays in a special event in Morocco this week and Shiv Kapur and Jyoti Randhawa tee off in Europe while Arjun Atwal continues in the US.
Rahil Gangjee and S.S.P. Chowrasia have decided to take a week off before the $4 million Barclay’s Singapore Open at Sentosa the following week.
The drawcard in the tournament is Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood who hopes to ride on his rich vein of form when he goes title hunting in Indonesia. The 34-year-old Englishman will be the star attraction and he will be aiming to add to his Asian wins, which include triumphs previously in Malaysia, Japan and Macau.
Westwood will face a strong line-up which includes China’s top player Liang Wen-chong, who currently leads the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit race, big-hitting Australian Scott Hend, Thai duo of Chapchai Nirat and Prom Meesawat, Airil Rizman of Malaysia, Filipino Juvic Pagunsan, the 2006 Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year, and Australia’s Brad Kennedy.
“I got in yesterday morning from a flight from Portugal. It was a hectic flight but I am well rested ahead of the challenges this week. I’m looking forward to this event,” said Westwood, who has an impressive haul of 28 international titles and four Ryder Cup wins with Europe.
“I’ve had five top-10 finishes in my last six tournaments so I can’t wait to get started here,” he said.
Competing for the first time in Indonesia, Westwood is confident of leaving his mark and coming out on top at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course this week, which he found very much to his liking.
“I will have to play four good rounds here. The Asian Tour has been growing stronger and the players are getting better. There is greater strength in depth in Asia now as reflected through Asian players going abroad such as KJ Choi (Choi Kyung-ju), Thongchai (Jaidee) and Jeev (Milkha Singh), which is fantastic for Asian golf,” said Westwood.
Chapchai, ranked fourth, will be hell-bent on closing the gap on Liang in the UBS Order of Merit race by enjoying a strong week at the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational.
The 24-year-old Thai aims to make amends for his disappointing finish at the Hero Honda Indian Open two weeks ago where he fell out of contention on the last day.
“I was nervous playing with Jyoti (Randhawa) in the final day. The spectators were all around in support of their local star and I found it quite intimidating. It affected my game and I lost out.”
The Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational is promoted by Ancora Sports which is one of Asia’s newest golf promoters and is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Indonesian Professional Golf Association (PGPI) and organised by the Indonesian Golf Association (PGI).