Tiger Woods Comes to India

The Monuments of Delhi Golf Club were perfect backdrop for Tiger Woods

There was a sort of rumor floating around that ‘The Tiger Woods’ would be coming to India and playing a round at Delhi Golf Club (DGC). Not many people believed it as it seemed very improbable.  Tiger seemed  to  be too big for Indian Golf. It is not that top Golfers haven’t played in India before. In Delhi NCR we have had a few prominent Golf tournaments in the past affiliated to European Tour and we have had players like Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Jimenez, Ian Poulter and Adam Scott playing at DLF Golf Resort  and Delhi Golf Club. It was only when the newspapers confirmed that Tiger would indeed be coming to India and a mail arrived from Delhi Golf Club confirming the same, the excitement started building up.

Getting out of rough. My son Kartik in orange cap (sitting) makes a video and I took this pic balancing on a hillock 

A few years ago we had another world number one golfer coming to India. Vijay Singh had won several top tournaments and was on top of the charts when he came to India to play a skins tournament  sponsored by BILT. Justin Rose (who later went on to win 2013 US Open), Todd Hamilton (winner of the  open championship 2004) and Daniel Chopra ( who spent his childhood playing at Delhi Golf Club), played this interesting format . I was fortunate to play the pro Am for this and had the opportunity to play a hole each with all 3 of them. This was played at the Arnold Palmer designed DLF Golf and country club at Gurgaon.  Even playing one hole each with these great players is a privilege. You have been watching them hit the ball a mile on TV and when they do it while playing with you, you get awe struck. They talk to you, praise you when you hit a good ball and they give you a few tips which you remember for your lifetime. You keep the signed caps as souvenirs forever and the pictures clicked with them are priceless. DLF had been having Avantha Masters tournament  from 2010-12 (co-sanctioned by European tour)  which attracted some great players but they could not host the tournament in 2013 as DLF is now replacing the Arnold Palmer designed course with Gary Player designed championship course and 9 holes of this are already in play while the other 9 are expected to be ready by year end.  The tournament was played in Jaypee Golf Course at Greater Noida  in 2013.

Ernie Els had come to play in the Indian Masters in 2008 which was sanctioned by European Tour and carried the prize money of $ 2.5 million. He was the winner of several Majors and was undoubtedly the star of the show. Some of the the other prominent  PGA players were Darren Clarke, Mark O’Meara, Thomas Bjorn & Greame McDowell. Ernie Els was having a good 1^st round till a’ 9’ on 18^th hole gave him a score of 75 in the opening round to be 77^th on leader board. He gradually made amends with scores of 70, 69 and 71 in subsequent rounds and ended up at a credible tied 6th. Much to the delight of Indian fans, our very own SSP Chowrasia with a brilliant 67 in the last round won the tournament with $ 280000 prize money and card to the European tour ! The course unfortunately was not in a great shape that year. The bitter cold had killed the fairway grass making the fairways hard and barren, and the perennially Green DGC had inexplicably turned yellow.  Sadly, due to the world economic slowdown, the tournament sponsored by Emaar MGF was discontinued henceforth.  

The audience found unique places to watch Tiger. 

The 6972 yards  Lodhi Course at DGC is a delightful course with narrow fairways  located in the heart of Delhi. The ancient monuments dot the entire Golf Course and lend it a great deal of  character.  For the payers not accustomed to playing on this course the forest cover is daunting. It has a 9 hole smaller course as well called the 'peacock course' which actually is an ideal course to practice your irons.  In 2011 DGC celebrated its centenary though the official record of its existence dates back to 1930. There was some evidence found of Golf being played in 1911 so the centenary was celebrated in 2011. In 2013 the prestigious Indian Open celebrated its Golden  Jubilee at this coveted club where the first edition had taken place. This was all fine, but the biggest celebrations were yet to come. As the Golfing great Tiger Woods walked down the 1^st fairway towards the 1^st tee  on 4th February 2014– Delhi Golf Club saw the biggest celebration ever. There were 63 roars over the next 4 hours as Tiger captured the Delhi Golf Club with 63 strokes.This was 9 under par. 

Perfect balance and finish !

I had taken the day off from work and my son  Kartik (an avid Golfer) had bunked school. Once at the club on the morning of 4^th February, it seemed that all Golfers of Delhi NCR had taken a day's  holiday. What was heartening to note that the DGC was full of children as well who had bunked school (with the permission of parents !) for this momentous occassion. The children were enthusiastic and had made their own groups to follow Tiger. Many Golfers, who were not the members of DGC were disappointed that the DGC on that day was open only for members and for guests of Hero Motor Corp. Yet, many non members did manage to find a way to get in.  But I had met some Golfers in the last few days who said they were not interested as he was just here to play an ‘exhibition round.’ What he actually played was an exhibition of great Golf. With 10 birdies on an unfamiliar course, he showed us what great Golf actually means.  Later the same guys were ruing of having missed the chance to see the legend in full action and flow.  People like us who were there could not stop discussing his ‘posture’, his ‘great finish’, his ‘ball striking ability’ and his ‘swing speed.’ Now, since the last few days we have been talking about his tee shot on the 1^st, his bunker shots on the 8^th and 14^th, his brilliant shot on par 3 12^th and his missed eagles and birdies on many holes due to slow greens.

Delhi Golf Club was foggy in the morning when Tiger walked in. As the day progressed, the crowds built up and the sun shone bright. It was a brilliant day. Perfect day for Golf. Thousands of people were all over the course and though it was all very chaotic, the club with the backdrops of monuments looked very colourful and alive. DGC had never seen a crowd like this before. 

The crowd was all over the place on this brilliant day

 Tiger was supposed to skip holes 6^th to 9^th but apparently he was enjoying playing on the course so he decided to go ahead and play those holes as well while most of us were waiting on the 10^th tee. Mr Pawan Munjal  ( CEO & MD of  Hero Motor Corp, who sponsored this visit of Tiger woods) held his nerve and played a decent round with Tiger with thousands watching. Tiger played a few holes with VIP’s like Prannoy Roy (NDTV), Rajiv Singh(DLF), Aveek Sarkar (Ananda Bazar Patrika) and Justice Vikramjit Sen. This was scary as a normal golfer can always hit a bad shot and with the crowds all over the place, the danger of an injury was always there. Thankfully nothing untoward happened and all of them played carefully and decently. The big hoots and whistles were reserved for lady Golfer Sharmila Nicolett who hit some brilliant shots and for local boy Shiv Kapur, who along with Anirban Lahiri beat Tiger and Pawan Munjal in a 3 hole skins tournament. At the end of it all when Tiger addressed the crowds from the terrace of the club, the crowds cheered lustily. When Pawan Munjal promised to bring Tiger back to India, the roar could be heard at Rashtrapati Bhawan !

Golfer Sharmila Nicolett made a few fans.

We have seen Tiger on TV for several years. We have seen his concentration, aggression and powerful hitting. The Tiger we saw in person looked a lot different. He looked taller than on TV, his body looked in great shape and he walked with elegance, he smiled and waved often, he showed concern for the audience and often helped out the security in crowd control, he asked us to move out of the way so that the ball doesn't hit us, and he looked relaxed and chatted frequently with fellow players. There were 7-8 shots during the round in which I was just a few feet away from Tiger. Watching him hit from so close was a thrill beyond compare.  On Tuesday, whatever we saw of Tiger, we liked very much. His parting words made all the members of DGC very proud : " I must say, Delhi Golf Course is the narrowest course I have played in my life. It has been wonderful experience coming down and playing in India. "

A Newspaper aptly described his visit with the following headlines: 'Tiger Woods Prowls, charms, and sets record turnout in Indian Golf history. ' 

The Golf Pro at DLF Golf Resorts 'Anitya Chand' always reiterates that a Golfer is not a golfer if he hasn't seen Tiger Woods in action. Anitya was just back from Dubai where he had attended a one hour clinic conducted by Tiger. So impressed was Anitya with Tiger after watching Tiger practicing and playing that he feels that no one comes close to Tiger in the Golfing world. 

I am so happy that I was there Tiger. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I wasn't going to miss it.