Randhawa hopes to add more cheers at Panasonic Open

New Delhi: Jyoti Randhawa, the most successful golfer on Indian soil with five Asian Tour titles at home, aims to bring more glory to his country by winning the inaugural Panasonic Open (India), which tees off at the Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday.

With euphoria at an all-time high after India swept aside Sri Lanka to win the Cricket World Cup and the `Indian Express` duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi became World No. 1 in tennis, another win by a home grown talent in golf is certain to evoke more excitement among the home crowd. "India winning the cricket world cup is great. Golf has also come a long way in India and it`ll be nice if I can win this week too," Randhawa, who was the first Indian to win the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit title in 2002, said."Sport (golf) in the country has not been given much importance in the past but now it`s catching up. Any sporting event in India or rather any sporting guy in the country who wins a big event is now recognised," he added. For the second time in three weeks, the region`s elite players will return to India for the Panasonic Open (India), which is the newest USD 300,000 event on the Asian Tour Schedule where it will be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) from April 6 to 9. Randhawa is expected to spearhead the local challenge as he is regarded as one of the Asia`s most decorated players with eight Asian Tour wins to his illustrious career. Randhawa`s last victory on the Asian Tour came in 2009 at the Thailand Open and he hopes that the wait for another victory will end at the Delhi Golf Club, a venue which he has triumphed on many occasions before."I`ve a good record at the Delhi Golf Club and if I can build on my record here this week, it`ll be great," said Randhawa. While he is disappointed to have lost his European Tour card this season, Randhawa knows that he will be back at the top of his game soon. "Golf`s a funny game. Sometimes you keep winning and sometimes it goes the other way. But I`m at it and I`m trying to get my act together and hopefully win something. I`m feeling better about my golf swing and I hope to capitalise on that," said Randhawa. PTI