Well equipped to succeed at highest level

As the year comes to an end, I look back on the season with mixed emotions. There have been some exhilarating moments, some frustrating. I...

As the year comes to an end, I look back on the season with mixed emotions. There have been some exhilarating moments, some frustrating. If I have to sum it up: It was a great year, but could have been better.

I started the European PGA Tour with a bang finishing third and then runner-up in the South African Open and the SA PGA Championship. That was in January. Thereafter, I kept playing solidly but could not put four good rounds together. I led the field twice before making some stupid mistake, which dragged me down the leaderboard. I finally finished the season in 50th position in the Order of Merit, a jump of 54 spots from last year’s 104. In the World Rankings, I improved from 322 to 170th.

The most satisfying moment was when I broke my title drought during the Lexus International at Bangkok in October. That I won the title after going into a playoff made it more fulfilling. The other high point was India playing the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrew’s where Jyoti Randhawa, Vijay Kumar and myselfalmost shocked England in the opening round match. Though I beat Lee Westwood in that tie, the joy would have been greater had we beaten them.

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In between, I failed to make it to the main draw of the US Open and the British Open by one and two strokes respectively. I lost the Kirin Open title on the Japanese PGA Tour to Korea’s Choi Kyoung-Ju in a playoff.But I was more disappointed with the way I finished the year. I injured my wrist during the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan in November and had to pull out of the final stage of the Japanese PGA Tour Qualifying School in December third week.

There were some other happenings which will have a bearing on my future. I got my own psychologist (Dr Khan) at the beginning of the year. Then, I got a long-term caddie in Mark, who hails from Zimbabwe, and gets along well with me. My sponsors Hero Honda Motors renewed my contract for two more years.

Finally, I got my own coach Sam Frost of South Africa, brother of renowned player David Frost. If I need my owncontingent to succeed at the highest level, then I think I am pretty well equipped right now.

It was good that I ended the year without really getting any major satisfaction out of it. As in any other sphere of life, the feeling of wanting more is important for growth. I am sure I will have a better year in the new millennium. May be, I will realise my dream of winning an event on the European PGA Tour this year. But will that satisfy me ? You bet, it won’t. That will just spawn bigger ambitions for me.

— Tiger Sports Marketing