Ajeetesh Sandhu is the top-ranked Indian on the Asian Tour rankings at 62
Indian pros continue to struggle on the Asian Tour as once again only two players barely made the cut to the final rounds while another three players missed the cut at the US$ 950,000 GS Caltex Maekyung Open at Namseoul Country Club in South Korea.
The best finish was by 35-year-old Asian Tour winner, Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh who carded rounds of 71-71-74-69 to finish in Tied-28th place at 1-over par, while SSP Chawrasia from Kolkota, a multiple winner on the European and Asian Tours, was in 37th place at 3-over 287.
Indians who missed the cut included Dubai based Shiv Kapur, Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa and Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar.
The next chance for Indians to play an Asian Tour event is the US$ 1mn Kolon Korea Open from June 20-23.
As of now, the Asian Tour has played seven of its 19 scheduled events for the 2024 season and Indian players have not yet found a respectable position on the rankings (Order of Merit) of the elite International Series or on the Asian Tour overall.
Indians on the Asian Tour rankings –
PLAYER RANK PLAYED CUTS MADE
Ajeetesh Sandhu 62 4 2
Veer Ahlawat 82 4 2
Karandeep Kochhar 100 5 1
Considering the Asian Tour has been a happy hunting ground for Indian players since around 1995 with Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa all winning the #1 Asian Tour rankings in some years and several Indians finishing in the top 5 of the year end rankings consistently, while India regularly used to host 3 to 4 Asian Tour events each year for decades. The Indian presence on the Asian Tour is today reduced to a mere shadow. There are no Indians in the top 50 and no Asian Tour events being staged in India during 2024.
There is little doubt that the challenge of India’s male pro golfers on the international scene is greatly diminished from what it used to be a decade ago. Anirban Lahiri who flew the Indian flag on the PGA Tour for 6 years, has moved to the LIV Tour now which has caused his world ranking to plummet. It is left to young Subhankar Sharma, who is holding on to his playing rights in Europe to keep India on the world map.
It’s possible that young Veer Ahlawat of Delhi may join Sharma in Europe in 2025 since he is on track to win the PGTI domestic ranking title in 2024 which will automatically qualify him for full playing rights in Europe next year. The towering youngster has shown potential to be one of the flag bearers of Indian golf in the coming decade, if all goes well.
Other countries are progressing with elite player development at a rapid pace with scientific plans being executed with business like efficiency. Meanwhile, Indian golf seems to have no plan to stay globally competitive and no one seems to be willing to face the stark reality of the situation in which Indian pro golf finds itself.
Photo – Asian Tour