In-form Bhandari, a major hurdle for Randhawa

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. The relaid greens at the Delhi Golf Club course will be the suspense factor in the Rs. 30 lakh Honda-Siel PGA golf championship which tees off on Thursday.

Eleven of the 18 greens have been relaid with the new generation `tiffdwarf' grass which is supposed to be faster than the old grass. The players will negotiate eight holes with the new grass on the outward journey.

Fresh from his victory in the Noida Open last week, with an astounding score of 19-under 269, Vivek Bhandari should be the man to beat in this championship.

Jyoti Randhawa, who won this tournament at the Army Golf Course last year, has also recovered from his early season slump. And, if one goes by his performance at the DGC the past two years, he should at least be a joint favourite with Bhandari. The doubts, if any, are based on his recent form, rather low-key by his standards.

In the previous competition held at the DGC, the SRF Open in March, Randhawa won the title with a score of 16-under 272. He also had scripted back-to-back wins in the Hero Honda Masters at the same course.

Randhawa, an Asian PGA Tour regular has had a difficult time this season, but last week there was something to cheer for him. Randhawa along with Arjun Atwal made it to the second stage of the US PGA Tour Qualifying School tournaments.

A good performance, tied-third place at the Martin Downs Country Club in Florida, has boosted Randhawa's confidence and he is looking to retain the title.

Randhawa's presence here has been possible as his second stage of the Q-School resumes only on November 11. However, the fans will miss Arjun Atwal, another talented golfer. Atwal's second stage of the Q-School is slated from November 4 to 11.

Bhandari has tested the new greens. Playing in a practice round with two-time champion Uttam Singh Mundy, Gaurav Ghei and Arjun Singh on Tuesday, Bhandari came out with impressive scores.

There will be a token foreign participation in the tournament, which has been revised to an Indian PGA Tour event after having been listed on the Asian PGA circuit for this season. Originally, the tournament was a $ 200,000 event but following the September 11 attacks on the U.S., the organisers were forced to revise the prize-money. Sweden's Daniel Chopra, South Africans Wallie Coatsee and Richard Pape, and three Malaysians, V. Arumugam, S. Murthy and Shaifubari Muda, are the foreign players in the field of 110 golfers.

The tenth-leg of Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour offers Rs. 4.86 lakh to the winner. The `cut' will be applied with the top 50 players plus ties qualifying for the money-making weekend rounds. Besides the hefty prize-money on offer, the participants will be vying to get the hole-in-one at the par-3 five. A gleaming Honda Accord is at the stake.

Ali Sher's team wins

Ali Sher's led his team to a win at the pro-am event of the Honda Siel PGA Championship of India at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Wednesday. Ali Sher's team comprising Ajay Seth, G. S. Khera and Brijender Singh, aggregated 121 points of which his contribution was 38.

Local golfer, Mohd. Maqbool and team finished runners- up with a tally of 120 beating Mukesh Kumar's team. Maqbool's team consisted of Vidhur Chopra, Ashok Sharma and Amit Luthra while Mukesh had Surejeet S. Duggal, G. P. S. Choudhary and Haride Bansi for company. Meanwhile, Indrajit Bhalotia grabbed the highlight with a hole-in-one achieved at the par-3 fifth hole. He achieved the feat when his six-iron tee shot as the ball guided the ball directly into the pin. Hole-in-one at the same hole offers a Honda Accord car in the main event.

The pro-am was played on a Stableford format where the pro score was compulsory and the two best out of three amateurs cards totalled with the professional's score.

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