New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Indian golfing great Jeev Milkha Singh believes the country’s golfers have a good chance of finishing on the podium at next month’s Asian Games but stressed the need to sharpen their short game to tackle Japan’s lightening fast greens.
Jeev, who has been playing regularly in Japan for more than a decade, said chipping, putting and wedge play would be crucial to India’s medal hopes at the continental showpiece to be held from September 19 until October 4 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan “My advice to both the men’s and ladies teams for the Asian Games is to make sure you practice your short game a lot,” Jeev told PTI from Tokyo, where he is competing in the Senior Japan Open.
“Because in Japan, the way the greens play and around the greens, the slopes do a lot of short game homework that will help you succeed. A lot of chipping, putting, and wedge play so that even if you miss the green, you have a good chance of making up and down.” The 54-year-old former PGA Tour winner said the greens would present one of the biggest challenges for the Indian golfers, given their pace and undulations.
“The greens are lightning fast. Normally in India, we play on greens rolling at a speed of about 8 or 9. Whereas in Japan, you’re playing on greens rolling at a speed of 12 and 13. So the difference will be putting on the grass in Japan.” Jeev also cautioned the golfers to be smart with their approach shots and stressed the importance of positioning the ball on the correct part of the green.
“It’s quite tough. You’ve got to make sure you miss the green on the right sideor you place your shot on the green on the right side so that it can be aggressive with the putt.And there are a lot of slopes on the greens,” he observed.
Windy conditions could further complicate matters, with Jeev urging the players to make effective use of their yardage books and course maps.
“Thirdly, it gets very windy in Japan. Normally, the conditions are such that there’s a lot of breeze. There’s a lot of wind. So you’ve got to make sure you have the right wind conditions available to yourself. You check it on the map on the golf course and on your yardage book so that you can get the right distance,” he said.
“The wind out here swirls quite a bit. Sometimes you feel on the tee shot, it’s going right to left and within a minute or two, you’ll feel, oh, it’s gone left to right.
“So you want to stick with the course map and also your yardage book, which way the wind is blowing. You’ve got to stick with that and believe in it.” A six-member Indian team will compete in the Asian Games. Yuvraj Sandhu, Veer Ahlawat and Saptak Talwar make up the men’s side, while Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs comprise the women’s squad.
Jeev also spoke about the lessons young Indian golfers can draw from playing alongside experienced professionals.
“I think the best thing I can pass on is when I play tournaments on the IGPL and these young kids play with me: the way I conduct myself on the golf course and how I handle myself under pressure.
“I think that could be the best learning these kids can get from it. When I used to play with top professional golfers like Vijay Singh, still do Ernie Els, Tiger. When you play with them, that’s the best learning experience you can have. And I think that’s what I want to share with the people at IGPL.” PTI SR APA APA
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