The two iron was spinning in my arms

It could not have been a worse start for me, but at the end of the first day of the Hero Honda Masters, I am thankful that I did not fini...

It could not have been a worse start for me, but at the end of the first day of the Hero Honda Masters, I am thankful that I did not finish any poorer than two over. There are times when you can go through an entire tournament not knowing what went wrong. So I am grateful I managed not only to find out what was wrong, but also rectify it to the extent that I birdied my last two holes after missing possible birdies on the 15th and 16th.

A great learning lesson indeed to come out from a round where things could have been worse. Still I must confess my confidence for some time was quite low.

I was completely bewildered for the first six holes today. Anything and everything I did with the two iron was causing trouble. The shots were veering towards the right. Since the two iron is the club I use most, I was worried as something of this kind has never happened to me. That was when I took a closer look at the club and found that the glue in the grip had come off and the shaft was spinning low towards the rightwith every shot.

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As a result, when the face of the club hit the ball it was going right. I was one over by the sixth. I spoke to my playing partner Chris Williams and after checking out with the referee got the permission to change the club, because it had broken during the round. I got a new club, but it was the not make I usually play with.

That was the time I told myself “Calm down”. The tournament is still young. I wanted to play a little safe and get my confidence back. Once that was achieved around the last few holes I went for it. The 14th, which has a new green, produced an atrocious double bogey and I was four over. Then I decided to shed my tentativeness and play freely. The result: two close misses for birdies on the 15th and 16th and then finally birdies on the last two.

I am trying to get my club fixed and in the meanwhile have also asked for another two iron to be sent from my home in Chandigarh. Since I have a late tee-off tomorrow, I should get the club in time.