The Hindu : Sport / Golf : PSPB Open from today; focus on Jeev Milkha Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 31, 2005

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PSPB Open from today; focus on Jeev Milkha Singh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 30. The PSPB Open golf championship, offering a prize money of five million rupees — the country's richest event in any discipline, will fill in for the deferred Indian Open scheduled at the Delhi Golf Club course here from Thursday.

Supported by all the petroleum units, including Indian Oil and Oil and Natural Gas Corporations, the event will see the return of Jeev Milkha Singh to the Indian circuit after a long gap. Still looking for a major title in the country, Jeev had kept this week free for the Indian Open and had expressed his willingness to play in any event scheduled in the country this weekend.

In many ways, the PSPB Open is designed to send out the right signals to the potential patrons of the game. After the two $300,000 Asian Tour events, the Hero Honda Masters and the Indian Open, became non-starters this season, the event comes at a significant time. With a few more big events, the Amby Valley PGAI Tour is likely to cross the promised mark of Rs. three crore, spread over 21 events this season.

Strong field

It augurs well for the domestic tour that Jeev is making an appearance here, along with Amandeep Johl, the Asian Games gold winner Shiv Kapur and silver-medallist Sri Lankan Anura Rohana, apart from the names that rule the Indian Tour, Mukesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, former Indian Open winner Vijay Kumar among others.

Those missing from the list are Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal and Harmeet Kahlon. While Atwal is away and Kahlon has cited exhaustion as a reason to take a break, Randhawa has chosen to sit the week out. In the words of Brandon D'Souza of Tiger Sports Marketing, the promoters of the PGAI Tour, Randhawa's demand for "guarantee money could not be met."

The course is in fine shape with Jeev pegging the winning score at about 12-under. "The greens are firm and the ball is really rolling well. Since the `rough' is not up, there is every danger of the ball finding its way to the bushes," said Jeev, who has promised to keep his driver in the bag and make do with the two-wood and the three-iron from the tees.

Assessing the course

Kapur and Johl, both tied for the 19th spot in last week's Indonesia Open, said they felt that the winning score could go up to about 15-under. Kapur will be playing on his home course after 1998 and for the first time after a five-year stint in the U.S.

Ashok Kumar, the winner of five successive titles on the Tour, is looking to displace Mukesh Kumar from the top of the Order of Merit. "I think a score of 12-14 under should do the trick," said Ashok after a round of six-under in the Pro-Am event on Wednesday. "I am very pleased with my form and hope to continue it over this weekend."

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