Singapore: Gaganjit Bholar He wore a smile as he stepped off the 18th green of the immaculate Serapong course with a birdie. Fairways met, tick, greens in regulation met, tick, putts changed, tick. It’s like Friday’s first round was replayed… until the 14th and 15th, where he dropped his first bogeys of the tournament.No problem. The 16th was the highlight of his day, with a downhill putt about 30-35 feet. And a closing birdie on the final ensured he added a three-under 68 to a 4-under 67 to stay in contention at the halfway point of the $2m Singapore Open, just three strokes behind the leader, who finished tied for third.Bhullar’s position near the top of the leaderboard at the International Series event told another story. The 11-time winner on the Asian Tour is one of the last players of his generation to compete consistently on the international stage. So, the question remains: Where is the next successful golfer from India? The numbers are serious. At the Hero Indian Open this March, only three Indian players made it to the DLF. Months earlier, at the DP World India Championship at the DGC, only five advanced to the weekend round. These are tournaments played on home soil, in settings that favor local players. Yet the gap between domestic promise and global success appears to be widening.Jeev Milkha Singh, who was pushed back by background issues, believes that one should set a high standard and be prepared to work for it. “You have to believe that you don’t want to be the best in Asia, you have to believe that you want to be the best in the world. Belief, discipline, routine, practice, they are all intertwined,” said the 54-year-old.Go out, challenge yourself was Shiv Kapoor’s advice. The 44-year-old, who made a hole-in-one on Thursday, won his first Asian Tour title as a rookie. He remembers climbing the traditional ladder from the domestic circuits to the Asian and European tours, but he sees a change in mindset now. Kapoor recalls criss-crossing continents early in his career, moving from America to Australia, Malaysia to India in quick succession. The physical damage was considerable, but so was the learning. “If you’re in your 20s,” he argues, “you should be out there traveling the world and taking opportunities.” What has now been discovered is a certain softness, he says. “I’m not hungry.”37-year-old Bhullar said. “We are trying to guide a lot of youngsters and you can grow and experience on the domestic tour but the destination is somewhere overseas.”“Don’t think it’s because of lack of facilities,” Shiv added, “we couldn’t get the equipment.” We had very few golf courses. So, all these things have improved. It’s just a question of players being comfortable in big tournament settings.”With the prize money available at PGTI and IGPL, have Indian players found their comfort zone at home? This can be a double-edged sword. “Players can make a good living, that can be a good thing. This is their goal. But I always wanted to be a world beater,” said Geo.SSP Chaurasia, the last Indian to win the National Open (2016, 2017), put the matter more bluntly: “Maybe they think, ‘I’m making money and that’s good enough.’ But when we played, when we came on the Asian tour, we always thought about putting ourselves in pressure situations, that’s when your best game comes out.”The various paths of PGTI and IGPL offer opportunities but the next generation struggles with the missing pieces in their minds and games at the international level. Bhullar is confident that fortunes will change. “These things happen in cycles. In the next four or five years, the next generation will develop. Karthik Singh can become a great player. Veer Ganapathy, solid ball striker. It’s only a matter of time before these kids believe, and start playing Q-Schools like we did.“(The author is in Singapore at the invitation of the International Series)Singapore Open Second Round: -10 Jeong Woo Ham (Cor) 64-68; -8 Jazz Genivatananond (was) 68-66; -7 Tomohiro Ishizaka (Japan) 67-68, Gaganjit Bhullar 67-68 (-7); T-3;Other Indians making the cut (placed at one over): Pakhraj Singh Gill: 71-70 (-1); T-38; Karindeep Kochhar: 71-71 (E); T-43.
