Top

Gangjee, SSP to lead challenge

The trio of S.S.P.

The trio of S.S.P. Chawrasia, Shankar Das and Rahil Gangjee will spearhead a strong local challenge at their home course — the Royal Calcutta Golf Club — when the PGTI’s season-ending '1.5 crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship begins on Thursday.

While Chawrasia and Das are both former champions, Gangjee is hard to write off on his home turf. Chawrasia, champion at the inaugural edition in 2012, has enjoyed a fruitful season on the Asian Tour, having finished fourth in the merit list. However, the last few weeks have been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for him.

First, he narrowly missed qualifying for his first-ever Major, the 2016 British Open, by one place at the Thailand Golf Championship. This was followed by the news of his inclusion in Team Asia for the big-ticket EurAsia Cup next year.

“The year’s been a good one for me as I came close to matching my best-ever ranking of number three in Asia. However, the last few weeks have been of mixed emotions. I was first disappointed to miss out on the British Open after coming so close. But then making Team Asia for the EurAsia Cup helped me get over the setback quickly.

“I now want to end the year with a flourish on my home turf since I’m focused and playing well. I changed my driver a month back and that has helped my game. I see Chikkarangappa, Mukesh and Khalin as some of the top contenders this week. Chikka is a very aggressive player and could do well here,” said Chawrasia, a winner of three international titles.

Next Story