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Hitting it off finally
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GOLF Starting off as an amateur teen golfer, Rahul Ganapathy has come a long way before winning this year’s Global Green Bangalore Open
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Photo: Murali Kumar K.
DETERMINED Rahul Ganapathy: ‘I’ve been waiting six years to win a professional title and things can only get better from here’
Rahul Ganapathy’s tryst with golf has been long and arduous. As a 15 year-old, he walked the golf course along with his father and was fascinated by the game. The weekend visits to the golf course were a ritual till Rahul told his dad he would
like to try to play the game. His father gave him the golf set and when the teenager showed he had the talent, an addict was born.
For the first year, Rahul only played weekend golf and only participated in the club tournaments. His approach to the game was very casual and it was only as a 16-year-old that he decided to play junior tournaments. Rahul entered the junior tournament to be played at the Bombay Presidency and though he finished down the field in the 50-something rank, the experience was pretty good.
The next year (1996) was Rahul’s last year as a junior. By now he had decided that golf would be the most important thing in his life. He worked hard at his game and when he won his first junior title at the Karnataka Golf Association, the die was cast. In 1997 Rahul progressed to the ranks of the Amateur and he was busy travelling on the circuit and competing with the best amateurs in the country. In 1998 he won the South India Amateur tournament at KGA, and when he bagged the All India Amateur title at Delhi in 1999-2000, Rahul decided it was time to turn professional.
Life in the ranks of the professional from 2001 had been a heart-break for six long years. It was not as if Rahul did not have the form to win any title.
Often Rahul would play brilliantly to lead the tournament for three rounds, only to miss out on the final round. His first season as professional saw him bag the “rookie of the year” title and he ended up creditably to finish 11th in the order of merit.
He came very close to winning the Pune PGAI tournament in 2001 but lost in a play-off to Ali Sher. That same year at the Bangalore Golf Course, Rahul was runner-up.
At Assam (Digboi) Rahul was off to a blazing start when he broke the course record. Digboi apparently was a happy hunting ground for Rahul as he saw his course record eclipsed in the second round in 2003 but the very next day the record was restored to Rahul as he shot a blazing 12-under 60 which could be the best score by an Indian golfer in India. But his game would get unstuck on the final round and he inevitably finished runner-up. Many followers of golf felt Rahul was jinxed or he did not have consistency. In the six years on the professional tour, Rahul had not won a title. This year it looked like history would repeat itself. In Assam this year, Rahul Ganapathy lost the title by one stroke to winner Mukesh Kumar.
At the Karnataka Golf Course last Sunday, Rahul seemed doomed to play runner-up again. Going into the final hole on the fourth round of the Global Green Bangalore Open, Rahul was one stroke shy of the leader Arjun Singh. A birdie on the 18th would have set-up a play-off, but Rahul could only finish the 18th with a par score. He seemed resigned to another second place and as he went to submit his card, he heard somebody say that Arjun Singh who was yet to finish his round had fared badly on the 18th.
Arjun Singh was badly placed on the bunker and took two shots to extricate himself from the sand. Rahul heard somebody yell that he (Rahul) had won and the relief at winning his first professional title was immense.
More than anything else Rahul was happy that his parents’ belief in him had paid off. “I recently had a son and he must be my lucky charm,” Rahul said. “I’ve been waiting six years to win a professional title and things can only get better from here. I’m on the first rung of the ladder and fervently hope that there are more title wins in store,” he added. The win has boosted his confidence tremendously. He has earned a slot for the Johnnie Walker classic in January next year and another for the Emaar Masters in February.
His training under Romit Bose in Delhi has paid rich dividends and Rahul has also improved his swing by working on the Explanar, a gadget that helps correct swing faults.
His temperament has improved and he seems more focused now. Apart from the two forthcoming tournaments in Delhi, Rahul is working towards making the grade on the Asian circuit.
He is preparing hard for the Asian Q-School and feels that by 2008 December he would be well prepared.
D. RAVISHANKAR
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