Nice guys do finish first as the Calcuttan shows

CALCUTTA, March 15: Firoz Ali may well be one of the the new breed of players Indian golf will see in the next few years. They are the secon...

CALCUTTA, March 15: Firoz Ali may well be one of the the new breed of players Indian golf will see in the next few years. They are the second generation. Sons of caddies alright, but they have not caddied for a living.“I have never really been a caddie,” said Firoz. “I came with my father (late Roshan Ali) to the RCGC for the first time. But my elder brother Rejwan was already playing and so was my father.”

He belongs to one of the two famous Ali families (Basad Ali belongs to the other) of Calcutta around whom so many golf stories revolve. He admits, “There’s often confusion among the two families.”

Though a lot has been said about this being the home course, Firoz said, “I would not have believed that I could shoot this kind of a score on my home course. I have shot better on some other courses. When I see golf on TV, I see scores of 16 and 20 under, even ladies get that kind of score. So over the years, I have been asking myself, `why can’t I shoot these scores’. That’s given me theconfidence.”

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Firoz first showed signs of becoming a name to reckon with when he finished third at the Indian Open in Calcutta in 1992. The next year he came even closer. “I lost by one stroke to Ali Sher in Delhi (in 1993). I was leading but I bogeyed the 16th in the last round. That night I could not sleep and I kept thinking I could have won.”

Firoz has been on the Indian circuit for more than a decade, since he was in his teens. The last seven years have seen him in the top 10 of the Order of Merit on the Indian Tour. “But titles on the domestic circuit are nothing compared to such an international,” he said. So, is this maiden international win the breakthrough his career needed badly?

Firoz thinks it is. So does Brandon D’Souza, who has seen him from the time he first arrived at the RCGC. “He has always been among the leading players in India. But I feel the most important thing in this season has been that he has made an effort to get that extra bit of confidence.”

Firoz admits going toMyanmar and making up his mind to play the Omega Tour the whole way has helped settle him. “I have also got a sponsor in Pioneer Polyfibre. That has given me security when I travel abroad which can be expensive,” says Firoz.

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Mindful of the fact that he represents India every time in an international event, Firoz admitted being disturbed by an incident on the fourth hole this morning. “My caddie stepped on the other (Dean Wilson) player’s putting line. This upset me because this is not the right thing to do to a foreign player. What will they say about us, I kept thinking? I went and apologised to him.”

Yes, nice guys do win as Firoz Ali showed this afternoon at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.