By Rahul Banerji
The inaugural $1 million Singapore International, which tees off at the Tanah Merah Country Club from Thursday will see a sizeable Indian contingent in action.
Sixteen entries from the 127-strong field have accepted from India including seniors Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur besides a band of young talent.
The year’s Asian Tour schedule was brutalised by the Covid epidemic and cut to just nine events, with this one and next week’s $1.2 million SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa to go now.
No Indian figures in the top-10 of the Tour’s Order of Merit. At 15, Rashid Khan is the best placed, an idea of how little golfers from the sub-continent have been able to play around Asia this year.
A fair amount of interest centres around how Shubhankar Sharma will go after a hectic European season during the summer. The former Asian Order of Merit topper is back after a two-year break and looking forward to the next few days.
“I missed the Asian Tour a lot,” Shubhankar said on asiantour,com recently.
Fond memories
“I have very fond memories and then it has been two years, but it feels like yesterday when I played my last event there.
“All my friends are there. I know the golf courses, I love the cities we play in Asia and the environment is so different from what I have experienced in Europe or in America – it’s a family feeling that you get when you play on the Asian Tour.
“Personally, I missed it a lot. That’s why I decided to go and play in Singapore.”
The money list race has narrowed down considerably after the double-leg Thailand swing last year leaving Australian Wade Ormsby and Thai star Phachara Khongwatmai separated by less than $10,000.
With two big purses up for grabs over the next fortnight in the Lion City, it could be a close call, especially for Ormsby who has led for quite some time.
Others to watch for at the $1 million Singapore International include Thailand’s Jazz Janewattanond, Panasonic India winner Joohyung Kim and Indonesia’s Rory Hie, another winner on Indian soil.
Indian entries
Abhijit Chadha, Sunit Chawrasia, Shubhankar Sharma, Shiv Kapur, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan, Chikarangappa S., Viraj Madappa, Aman Raj, Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh, Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi, Karandeep Kochhar, Veer Ahlawat, M. Dharma.
Also read: Shubhankar brings in solid finish at Dubai Desert Classic
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