Of sleepy snakes, sliding scores and a merited European title

By Rahul Banerji

Never underestimate the speed of the wild. A meeting with what seemed a sleeping snake spiked the adrenalin when it catapulted itself from land to water in a blur.

One half step in the search for a better picture was all the snake needed to make the shift from snoozing serpent to Speedy Gonzalez.

What seemed was not what was. The little fellow had been keeping a beady eye out for prey. A short while later we saw it gliding away with a small, wriggling fish in the mouth.

Jaypee Wishtown may not have large fauna in its precincts but it certainly has more than a fair share of visiting birds, not to mention resident water snakes.

Interrupted round

On the other side of the country my friend Abani Barua had an encounter with a somewhat larger animal.

Playing the Rhino course (REPTA) in Guwahati, Assam, his round was given an enforced break by a straying sambhar deer.

The beast is apparently a regular visitor to the course along with a few others of its herd, and Abani even got it to pose with him for a keepsake snap.

A few days ago, an elephant came down from the nearby hills to the REPTA staff quarters.

Other courses in Assam too get their share of visitors of the four-legged variety with elephants, buffalo, deer and wild boar putting in cameos for visiting golfers.

At Hindan, the authorities have now put up a wall to keep straying nilgai off the fairways and greens.

Shubhankar slips

In Dubai, meanwhile, Shubhankar Sharma endured a final round meltdown of sorts to card an eight over par 80 for a tied 41^stplace finish in the DP World Tour Championship on the day.

Going into Sunday tied tenth, Sharma mixed seven bogeys and a triple with two birdies to drop 32 places on the leaderboard.

But there was consolation for the 22 year old with confirmation that he had done enough to win the European Tour’s Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year trophy.

Willet is champion

At the top, England’s Danny Willett returned of the winner’s circle even as Francesco Molinari was crowned Europe’s number one on a dramatic final day in Dubai.

In 2016, Willet claimed his maiden major title at the Masters but when he arrived in the UAE this week, he had had two barren years since.

Injuries and a lack of form saw him drop to 462nd in the Official World Golf Ranking but a closing round of 68 in Dubai means he is now a Rolex Series champion and back on his way up. the OGWR

Willett made three birdies in his last five holes to total 18 under, two shots clear of fellow Englishman Matt Wallace and reigning Masters Champion Patrick Reed.

Defending champion Jon Rahm took a share of the fourth place purse with a 14 under alongside fellow Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and South African Dean Burmester.

Molinari came to Dubai knowing that only a win for rival and friend Tommy Fleetwood could deny him the Race to Dubai title. With the Englishman finishing in a tie for 16th, Italy now has its first European Tour topper.

Also read: Dubai gears up for year-ending climax as Moliwood face off

NOTE: Teetimetales now gives you the option of going directly to the PGA TOUR, European Tour, Asian Tour and PGTI websites to follow players and events with click-through buttons on top of the home page. On smartphones, tap on the boxes at the top of the screen. A fifth link opens to Robin Symes’ coaching website that has instructive videos to help improve your game.

Also, apologies to subscribers as the platform migration continues. We hope to put them back on stream soon.