File photo of Singapore star Shannon Tan who missed out narrowly on Hero Women’s Indian Open honours last year. Image courtesy LET.
By Rahul Banerji
Singapore star Shannon Tan, a contender for Ladies European Tour Order of Merit honours, played Wednesday’s Hero Women’s Indian Open Pro-Am looking for clues after coming within a shot of victory last year.
In contrast, rankings leader Mimi Rhodes opted to soak in some local culture culture and cuisine ahead of the $500,000 tournament at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon.
Several of the top Indians were also in action, sizing up the course which has received generous amounts of rain and promises to play differently from last year.
World top 30 player Aaron Rai of England had clubs in hand alongside new bride Gaurika Bishnoi, who has a fine record at the event with three top 10s against her name.
With her acclaimed golfer husband for company, Gaurika will hope to scale new heights at her home course this year.
Aaron and Gaurika played the Pro-Am with Hero MotoCorp executive chairman Dr. Pawan Munjal, while former India cricket captain, Kapil Dev in action alongside Ridhima Dilawari.
Another star golf couple — Tvesa Malik and Ajeetesh Sandhu — were in attendance though the former divided her time between playing and sharing shopping and dining tips with her LET friends.
Vital tips
“It is fun to share the culture of India with them,” said Tvesa. “They show us around their cities when we play abroad and this was a way to say thanks.”
Pranavi Urs, who is returning from injury is hoping to build on her recent top five finish in France while Diksha Dagar is focussed on going better than her third place finish of 2023.
Avani Prashanth, Gaurika, Hitaashee Bakshi and Jasmine Shekar all had an eye on how the rain-hit course was playing ahead of Thursday’s tournament tee-off.
Meanwhile, for Rhodes, it was also about preparation despoite her opting for sightseeing on Wednesday.
“I still have to make the same preparation and make sure that I’m focused and getting in my practice and also spending time in Delhi adventuring around.
“I need to make sure of staying in the right mindset and practicing and getting ready for the tournament. It’s exciting to be here in a new culture and experience something out of my comfort zone.
“The course is tough. You have to place yourself really well off the tee, the rough is long. I really like it, the layout is interesting and every hole is different.
“You have to think about your shots off the tee but the rain has helped us as players because I heard the course was really tough last year when it was dry.
“It’s nice to have shots stopping on the greens. It’s supposed to be sunny from tomorrow, so the course will definitely change, and I just have to adapt my game.”
Tan, who trails Rhodes by 209.54 points and could get to the top with a win this week, said, “I’ve been looking forward to this event after last year.
Good change
“I played well during the last round but over that whole week I was just focused on hitting fairways and greens and keeping the ball in play. It can be quite challenging.
“This year, they’ve had rain so the greens are softer and not as fast as last year, but they have grown the rough out.
“It’s different, but still challenging. With the rough as it is, you’ve got to be on the fairways and with the greens being softer you can go at the pins a bit more, but you still have to be cautious with your misses.”
Also read: Season-ending battle looms for LET Order of Merit crown
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