Chiragh shines bright in Round 3
It was an amicable parting when Chiragh Kumar and Tarun Jain ended their association two years ago. Teaming up with the mind trainer had yielded little and the former endeavored to explore the vast expanse of a golf course on his own, till six months back. Robin Bose reports.
It was an amicable parting when Chiragh Kumar and Tarun Jain ended their association two years ago. Teaming up with the mind trainer had yielded little and the former endeavored to explore the vast expanse of a golf course on his own, till six months back.
Landing the team silver at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, in the company of Gaganjeet Bhullar, Anirban Lahiri and Joseph Chakola, meant the talent was beyond doubt. The difficulty lay in controlling his temper on the course and the "inability to read himself better". The services of an expert beckoned. Instead of looking elsewhere, he approached Jain straightaway. "There was no question, no one knows me better," said Chiragh, who turned 27 on Wednesday, the opening day of the LG Masters of PGTI.
Merging the familiarity and lessons from the first outing has turned out to be beneficial. In September, Chiragh, who turned pro immediately after Doha, picked up his maiden title - the PGTI Players Championship. "Even after the win at Golden Greens (Gurgaon), I've been in contention. It's been the inability to convert the starts which has hurt," he said at the Delhi Golf Club on Friday. One of the few to return a third consecutive under-par card this week, the 68 handed Chiragh a solitary shot lead over Sanjay Kumar, and placed the Air Force Golf Club player in a position to set the record straight on the final day.
"Winning or being in contention can work otherwise too. With time, I've learnt not to harbor expectations. If it happens, good, if not, the next time," said Chiragh. Though glimpses of the temper have been on view, going in with the "uncomplicated approach" of keeping the ball in play, has proved to be productive.
Displaying sound hitting, Chiragh gave himself several birdie opportunities, of which he holed four - three on the front nine and another on the final 18th. "The putting wasn't great as I missed some putts, but I've no reason to complain as some long putts were also sunk," he said, referring to the 25-30 putts he made on the 5th and 7th.