You are Invited for High Tee

Arjun Atwal’s PGA Tour victory suggests an Indian could soon win one of golf’s four major titles.

History does not always demand bloodshed and gunfire. It also happens in wish-you-were-here surroundings. A nice golf club in North Carolina. Lushness and dappled sunshine all around. Unfaltering nerves, and a ball rolls into a hole.

 Congratulations, Arjun Atwal. By winning the Wyndham Championship, you have set a milestone in Indian sport. You have become the first Indian to win a 

US PGA Tour title and you have pocketed $918,000. You have your PGA Tour card back. You have also received a congratulatory message from MS Gill, the Indian Sports Minister. But that is a small price to pay for success.

To most of us, Indian golf is a well-paying but nebulous sub-culture. One way to shut talkative Indians up is to ask them what a birdie is. But they are somewhat aware of the men who hit these birdies. Some of these names are Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei, Shiv Kapur and SSP Chowrasia. 

Indians, at least those who stop by the sports pages, also know that a younger generation of golfers, like Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri, are shaping up well. The 37-year-old Atwal’s achievement is another advertisement for the health of Indian golf. 

“It is a defining day in Indian golf,” says Padamjit Sandhu, director, Professional Golf Tour of India. “This is the biggest achievement by an Indian golfer because the US PGA Tour is the most prestigious of all tours. Besides, Arjun did not have it easy. The contest had gone down to the wire and he won it on his last putt. He had to earn it.”

Prabhdev Singh, editor of the Indian edition of Golf Digest, says, “Ask any pro golfer which tour he wants to play, he will say PGA Tour. It has the best players and big prize money purse.”  But when will an Indian win one of the sport’s four major titles? 

“The way the game is growing in India, it is a matter of time,” says Sandhu. “Our current players can do it too. They have time. They are all in their late 30s. Last year, Tom Watson almost won the British Open at 59. Arjun has already shown that an Indian can win in the world’s toughest league.”

About The Author

Akshay Sawai