Jyoti finishes on top as another season ends

Jyoti finishes on top as another season ends
Shona Manco

What a season it's been on the Indian circuit! Feroz Ali and Amritinder Singh started the contest for the Mahindra rankings in the first three events down South. Not one to be left behind, Vijay Kumar soon caught up and a battle ensued. However, the name that steadily crept up and gained prominence was none other than Indian Open champion, Jyoti Randhawa.

The lean mean golfing machine, Jyoti - or Jo as he is called by his mates on tour - first successfully defended his title at the Hero Honda Masters in October. With amazing confidence, he went on to defeat a shattered Sammy Daniels in yet another play-off to become India's 2000 Open champion.

His friend and soon to be brother-in-law, rookie Digvijay Singh also came into his own as a professional. His first win came at the BPGC Open where a final day best round gave him the title. Then at the J Hampstead Open, he led for three rounds before an experienced Shiv Prakash claimed the title.

Meanwhile Amritinder followed Jo's example, successfully defending his title at the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open. The onus was then upon the charismatic Uttam Singh Mundy, but he hasn't had a very eventful season and later took time off to nurse an injured shoulder. As a result the SIEL PGA was won by none other than previous number one Vijay Kumar, who drove home the metallic green Honda City.

Another golfer who gained steam as the tour progressed was Gaurav Ghei. Reliable as he is, Gaurav's struggle to win was timely rewarded at the Wills Masters in February.

However, the highlight of the season was probably the number of pros nursing injuries. Most discussed was Jeev's wrist which now been diagnosed as a hairline fracture. Arjun Singh, the only Indian to have made every cut on the APGA tour maintained his record by not playing. He watched most of the action from the sidelines, forced to sit out due to an injured back and was later joined by Vivek Bhandari.

After a rather patchy year, Vivek found his touch at the Indian Open and the golfing fraternity hoped it was the end of all his swing problems. However, just when he'd got that sorted, a nagging neck injury caused him to pull out of the BPGC Open. Presently, his main concerns are his stiff neck and avoiding the even stiffer collar.

Indrajit Bhalotia didn't have a memorable season nor an injury that he could blame. The highlight for him would probably be the unforgettable fourteen he carded at the par-five first hole at the Delhi Golf Course during the SRF.

However, the action continued and the Mahindra Golfer of the Year wasn't decided till the final event. Feroz and Vijay battled it out till the very end but the former made a judgment error when he opted to play in Thailand instead of Mhow. His win at the SRF helped get him back into contention, but it was a consistent Mukesh Kumar who ran away with the title plus the seven lakh award.

On the contrary, the race for Rookie of the Year only gained excitement towards the end. Digvijay made a charge and threatened to displace Harmeet Kahlon as the undisputed winner, but the tour finished just in time for the latter.

All eyes will now be focussed on the Asian tour where these guys will spend the next six weeks. Then there's the Open Championship qualifying to look forward to later this summer and Jeev's return to the European tour.

Hopefully it won't be long before we're celebrating another victory.

Last weeks results:

PGA: Greensboro Chrysler Classic
Winner: Hal Sutton
PGAI: J Hampstead Open
Winner: Shiv Prakash
Japanese tour:Kirrin Open
Winner: Shiyoku Katayama
Coming up:
PGA: Compaq Classic of New Orleans
Senior PGA: The Home Depot Invitational
EPGA:Novotel Perrier Open de France
APGA: Philippine Masters
PGAI: 1999-2000 season concluded
Golfer of the week: Mukesh Kumar

Mukesh Kumar proved that consistency pays, making every cut in the 19 event played on the Indian tour with 17 top ten finishes to become the Champion Golfer of the Year.