Jyoti Randhawa feels he has a fair chance

New Delhi: The inaugural Indian Masters, the first European Tour event to be held in a nation where golf is viewed as an emerging market, will provide a great opportunity for Indian players to shine in front of their fans when it gets underway here on Thursday.

The $2.5 million tournament — jointly sanctioned by Asian Tour on a tricky Delhi Golf Club course — will feature Jyoti Randhawa, India’s No.1 and world No.84, who will be aiming for a fourth straight win on the course which includes back-to-back Asian Tour Indian Open titles.

Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal, the first Indian winner on the European Tour who now plays on PGA’s second-rung Nationwide Tour, will both be bidding to return to form after subdued seasons in 2007.

South Africa’s Ernie Els will be keen to make up for last week’s late collapse. The 38-year-old world No.4 is the main drawcard.

Shouldering the huge burden of expectation stemming from his impeccable record at the Delhi Golf Course, Randhawa reckons his first job would be not to worry about the title or get swayed by the magnitude of the marquee event.

“I think my chances are pretty fair but golf is nobody’s game,” said the seasoned pro, sounding both cautious and confident on Wednesday.

“I really want to do the best that I can and try not to think about the tournament, not to think how big is it and who else are playing,” he said.

The tournament suffered a minor jolt on Wednesday as Asian Tour stalwart Thongchai Jaidee and Swede Michael Jonzon pulled out owing to illness. They are down with flu. Australia’s Adam Groom will replace Jaidee.

He, however, did not hide his disappointment at the look of the course and rued weather had taken its toll on the grass.

“Frankly speaking, I’m not impressed by the look. I guess the severe winter has hit the grass and the rough. I have never seen the course so yellow. It’s always lush green and picturesque.

“Now there is no rough around the greens. Even the greens are not as truss as they can be. I have played and won on this course and I can tell you that the course is 50 per cent of what it can be.”

European Tour regular Shiv Kapur joined Arjun Atwal and said he was not impressed by the new bunkers.

“I’m not really excited about some of the bunkers that have been put in. I think the main character and the main hazard of the course is its bushes.

“And if you put bunkers like that, I think you take the driver and three-wood out of a lot of the holes, especially the sixth where you have a couple of bunkers added that was simply unnecessary,” said the youngster about his home course.