New Delhi, Sept 15: Sometimes, when plans and schedules are thrown into a complete disarray, people still don’t mind. Jyoti Randhawa’s historic win on the Japanese Tour at Inzai, near Tokyo, on Sunday has elicited that kind of response from the usually-reticent, sometimes-emotional golfer.
Randhawa, by his own admission, is now on an altogether new plane. “This win has helped me move to a totally new, higher plane. It automatically makes me feel that I am ready for greater challenges,” Randhawa told TNN from Tokyo over phone on Sunday.
Randhawa’s win on the Japan Tour ranks among the top two events in the history of Indian golf — second perhaps, only to Arjun Atwal’s Malaysian Open win earlier this year. “This certainly is the most important win of my career. It’s come in my first year on the Tour. I think that is as significant,” he adds. “Winning a title in Japan, is like winning on the US Tour. The conditions and the competition here are very similar to that on the US Tour.
“I played the best golf of my career over the past week here. Everything just clicked.”

“It immediately changes a lot of things for me,” says Randhawa. The second Indian on the premier Tour after Jeev Milkha, an entry made possible due to him winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit last season, Randhawa has already re-working his plans. This win has earned him a two-year exemption on the Japanese Tour. “That headache of struggling to retain the card, and going through the Q School is gone,” he says. Randhawa also gets to play the major season-ending tournaments, such as the Japan Open and is eligible to play the exclusive Nippon Series, where only title-winners are eligible to play.



So, while the stay in Japan gets another season or two longer, the biggest change in the schedule diary is to do with the US Tour qualifiers. With the Q School scheduled for sometime in October this year, Randhawa has already began to give it thought. He had it originally planned for next year. “Since that remains my ultimate aim, I think the time is suddenly ripe to attempt it,” he says. There is a spot of bother, though. A part of the prize at Inzai was 1,000 cans of beer from the tournament sponsors, Suntory. “I don’t drink. That’s for my caddy, my cousin Bunty,” Randhawa says. “He’s the happiest. I guess, now he’s going to have a great year too. Only the reason would be different.”