Jyoti

Randhawa

Randhawa is the son of a retired army general but that doesn’t give him access to hunt in the Dudhwaw Tiger Reserve’s protected area. The Delhi-based golfer spent most of his 2018 season on the Asian Tour where he finished 74th in the order of merit. That dropped him outside of the top 1,000 in the OWGR. The 7-time international winner reached as high as 74th in the World Rankings, but that was back in 2007. According to Rediff Sports, he was slapped with very serious charges before being thrown in judicial custody for 14 days.

No less than 13 times Randhawa found the top eight at Delhi GC, twice collecting this Open prior to its inclusion on the European Tour (and adding another two wins in the Hero Honda Masters). Just last December he bounced back to form with T2 there in the Panasonic Open. It’s also true that in five starts at DLF he has never finished outside the top 30. But this week there is a new course to negotiate and with its length and worldwide template (resort style) the locals may have less of an edge. Randhawa is no slouch from the tee, typically knocking it beyond 300 yards so he may be less inconvenienced than many compatriots. T12 in last May’s Mauritius Open it was as strong as he has been in recent years on the European Tour - you must trace all the way back to the 2010 Johnnie Walker Championship for his last top ten.

This will be a week when the notion of course form is tested under intriguing conditions. Saujana G&CC was a regular haunt of the Malaysian Open and some players thrived there, Randhawa included, as per his T2 in 2005 and 2009. But all of that info is eight years out of date; will it stand up in 2017? The intervening years have been tough on Randhawa. The Indian was a regular presence on the leaderboards of co-sanctioned events but the last time he cracked the top ten was when T10 in the 2010 Johnnie Walker Championship, his last full season on the European Tour. That said he was T12 in last year’s Mauritius Open and notched a T4 and T2 late in the 2016 Asian Tour season. Most recently seen when T77 in the Myanmar Open two weeks ago.

Randhawa was won the Indian Open and was 68th on the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 2006. The reason later given for his withdrawal was an illness.

The Indian has won four events at Delhi GC, including this tournament twice. Before gamers rush in, it’s worth noting that the all those victories were recorded between 1998 and 2007 and his recent form at the course shows no top fives in six events since 2011. That said, he did finish T8 there in the 2014 SAIL Open and was an encouraging T15 in last week’s True Thailand Classic. Overall, Randhawa has won his national Open three times.

Randhawa had a nice 65 in the first round to go with his four-under on Friday and stands at -11, one shot better than Scotland’s Barry Hume.