Player of the year Jin Young Ko achieved a remarkable feat last week
After missing out on international professional golf in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, Indian golf fans and players are looking forward to the return of the Hero Indian Open, announced on the European Tour’s calendar for February 2022.
One speculation is around the participation. It is possible that for the first time in the 56 year long history of the Indian Open, that the event may not be part of the Asian Tour.
Recent commercial developments in the world of pro golf has seen a rift develop between erstwhile collaborators – the European and Asian Tours which may make it impossible for the Indian Open to be sanctioned by both tours, as it has been since 2015. This raises the question of whether enough European Tour players will travel to New Delhi to fill the field at our prestigious national Open. Time will tell.
On another note, the LPGA tour, where Aditi Ashok plays, held its season ending CME Globe event last week. The tournament saw an out of this world performance by the eventual winner Jin Young Ko of South Korea who hit a remarkable 63 consecutive greens in regulation to end the tournament as the champion. Jin Young Ko beat World No 1 Nelly Korda of USA and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in a thrilling event which saw her be crowned as Rolex Player of the Year and win the top prize of US$1.5 million, the richest in the women’s game. This remarkable performance shows there is no limit to the degree of consistency that golfers can achieve, when they are in the perfect state of peak performance. A lesson there for our young champions, aspiring to play top level pro golf.
Credits:-
Photo – Golf Channel