V Krishnaswamy: The role caddies play

SIMPLY GOLF

Mukesh Kumar

After giving up the No. 1 spot in Indian golf standings, Mukesh Kumar hit back with a vengeance in the opening event of the 2004-05 Amby Valley Indian PGA Tour.

Mukesh, who finished second to young Ashok Kumar in the Order of Merit last year after winning it for four consecutive years, may well have been drawing inspiration from an old friend from Mhow, the place where he originally belongs.

Not many people know that Mukesh gave golf lessons to Rajyavardhan Rathore, the silver medallist at the Athens Olympics last month. Rathore said he was keen on taking up golf before the shooting bug bit him in 1998.

While golf's loss was shooting's gain, Rathore has promised to take up golf seriously. "I love being on a golf course and the game is so challenging," said the major in the Army during a chat after his historic Olympics win.

Coming back to the 38-year-old Mukesh, he had won very few titles in 2003-04 compared to the previous season where he won in 10. One reason for thiswas that Mukesh had been without his regular caddie Raju. The small-built and loquacious Raju, who also hails from Mhow, is a good man to have on the course.

Raju once told me that the first thing he does after arriving at a venue is check out the course and chat up the local caddies to get an idea of the course.

Then on the practice day or the day of the Pro-Am, he and Mukesh discuss the course, the fairways and the greens. They also plan out what clubs to use at which hole, keeping in mind the yardage and where the hazards are.

"I have my notes for most of the major courses in the country," reveals Raju, bringing out a small dog-eared diary with scribbles that only he can understand. And he always refers to the play as "we played well". That shows the extent of team spirit the two share.

Last season, however, Raju was busy with personal work and travelled very little in the circuit. But this season, they are back together. And in the first event itself, they stomped all over the competition to win the Hyundai-TNGF Open 2004 at the par-72 Cosmo-TNGF Golf Course.

Mukesh fired a flawless six-under 66 on the final day to go with his earlier rounds of 67, 70 and 69 for a total of 16-under 272. He was five strokes clear of second placed Vijay Kumar, himself a veteran on Indian courses and a dominating force before Mukesh hit the scene in the late 1990s. Ashok Kumar, winner of Merit list in 2003-04, was tied eighth in the opening event of the new season.

Mukesh admitted, "I credit my win to two things. One, practising my putting on my hotel carpet for two hours last night and the other is the return of my caddy Raju," he said.

Mukesh is considered one of the best putters in India, but during the last season, his form deserted him. Still, he managed to finish second on the Money List.

Recently, Colin Montgomerie re-engaged his old caddie Alastair McLean just as he was awarded the wildcard spot for the Ryder Cup next year. All this goes to show how caddies can make a difference to a player's game. McLean was with Monty at the height of his success streak during which he was European No. 1 seven times.

Meanwhile, returning to the Indian Tour, young Sandeep Syal has given the season a great start, His string of eight successive birdies in the final round gave him a record for most consecutive birdies on the Amby Valley Indian PGA Tour.

His final round of 64 earned him a tie for the third position along with Delhi's Gaurav Ghei at eight-under 280. Syal, sponsored by Color Plus, has worked a lot with his coach, Indrajit Bhalotia, as part of his pre-season training.

Shiv Kapur, the 2002 Asian Games gold medalist, made his debut on the Indian tour and shot a three-under 69 on the final day to tie for 15th. Kapur has already made his debut on the Asian Tour where he made the cut in his first event. As the Indian Tour is heading for a great start this season, lets's see how the tempo is maintained in the weeks to come.