What do grandfather B.M. Khaitan and grandson Akhil have in common? Their favourite golfer: Tiger Woods. “I’d love to get him to Calcutta to play here!” said BMK, who still enjoys a game of golf on weekends and was at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Sunday to watch Anirban Lahiri lift the McLeod Russel Tour Championship 2013 trophy

Till next year…

It just shows that people are looking for something which is of this standard and for us it is our way of giving back to a game that we love so much. We hope to make it better next year and we’ve renewed our relationship with PGTI to do another three years after that. We are committed to the sport and the event. Let’s hope 2014 is better than 2013. For me, it is important how the players have viewed this event. Everyone’s happy. I’d like to give credit to the golf managers who actually maintain the golf course. If the course is good, players feel good. And if the players feel good, the tournament is good — Aditya Khaitan, managing director, McLeod Russel

The RCGC greens saw a huge turnout on the final day. “I was telling Rahil it’s good that he was in the leader group because whenever a Calcutta boy is there, the crowd comes out. It was nice to see so many people on the golf course,” Anirban Lahiri told t2. The champ had a special word for the Royal course. “I don’t remember the golf course playing so well,” he smiled.

The Gangjees: (L-R) Rahil with mom Nazirah and wife Maithreyi. “This is the first time I am walking with him. I promised to walk with him… to cheer him up. I have always stayed home and asked for the score, I am the nervous type. I came when he was an amateur, but now that my husband is not here, I have to walk with him. He likes it. His dad was the force behind him, always telling him, ‘You can do it’,” Nazirah Gangjee told t2 earlier during the day. Maithreyi said she was “proud” of what Rahil did. “His mum told him that he needed to go and play. It will be good and life needs to carry on. He put up a good fight and he played decent golf. He didn’t crumble. Rahil hasn’t played any tournament since (the time he lost his dad),” she said. As for Rahil, the 35-year-old admitted that he was “a little bit more emotional” than he normally is. “I gave it my best. I was really wanting my dad to be here. When I am at the Royal, he is always there,” he told t2. His message for his mother and wife who have stood by him like rocks? “Thanks for feeding me all the good food!” smiled Rahil, dressed for the final day in his lucky red Pudu pants.

Text: Saionee Chakraborty
Pictures: Anindya Shankar Ray