| Wins for Avani and Yuvraj augurs well for the future of Indian golf  Avani Prashanth (Source: LET) Three of our men – Gaganjeet Bhullar, Ajeestesh Sandhu and Anirban Lahiri – were in contention going into the final round of the St Andrews Bay Championship, part of the International Series on the Asian Tour. None of them quite managed to get the job done on Sunday, but it still turned out to be a very significant week for Indian golf. On Friday in Hoor, a small Swedish town 550km south-east of Stockholm, 16-year-old amateur Avani Prashanth won the Ahlsell Final at Elisefarm, an event on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series, with a sensational final-round display. She started the day four shots behind the leader, was even par through 11 holes, and then made birdie-birdie-eagle-par-par-birdie over the next six holes to become the first Indian to win on that particular Tour. A day later, 26-year-old Yuvraj Singh Sandhu shot a final-round 65 to win the Asian Development Tour’s BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament, some 40 minutes outside Jakarta’s crowded city centre. Sandhu started the final round three shots behind the leader but eventually triumphed by four shots. Both events aren’t part of the main Tours. The Access Series is the development tour of Ladies European Tour, and the ADT is from where players graduate to the Asian Tour. To give it a tennis analogy, they are the Challenger Series to the main ATP Tour. But these wins are not about the quality of the Tour, nor is it about the immediate rewards for the two players. Instead, it is about their single-mindedness and determination and says a lot about the inherent character of the two champions. Sandhu, who narrowly finished second to Manu Gandas in the PGT of India Tour Order of Merit last year, thus losing on the chance to secure playing privileges for this season on the DP World Tour, could have easily stayed back and played the domestic Tour.  Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (Source: LET) After all, the PGTI’s Coimbatore Open last week had a prize purse of INR1 crore, which was equal to the money on offer in Indonesia ($125,000). Staying back would have meant fewer expenses and being in his comfort zone. Sandhu ignored all that and chose to play abroad. His reason was simple – he has already won multiple times in India and was eager to spread his wings. The ADT event gave him a chance to be tested on foreign soil. Most importantly, a good show would possibly help secure a card on the Asian Tour for 2024 and also get him some invites this year. It’s a similar story with Avani. The Bengaluru girl, who made history earlier this year by becoming the first Indian to win the Queen Sirikit Cup (one of the biggest amateur events in Asia-Pacific), desperately wants to represent the country in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Olympic qualification depends on a player’s standing in Rolex Ranking – the world ranking for women’s professional game. As a 16-year-old, Avani is unable to turn pro because she won’t be able to get membership on any Tour. She intends to play the LET Qualifying School later this year and turn professional next year when she is 17. However, in the meantime, her hunt for Rolex Ranking points continues. She is trying to play every professional tournament she can get an invite into. Because of her World Amateur Golf Ranking, she can compete in most amateur tournaments in the world – and her expenses will probably be borne by the Indian Golf Union and the government as she will be representing India at the Asian Games – but she wants to be future perfect, and hence the pursuit for pro events instead. More than the wins, it’s the mindset of these two young stars that makes them stand out of the crowd and forces you to take notice. If they can keep this thinking intact, the future looks bright for them, and for Indian golf. The intrigue about Brooks Koepka and Ryder Cup On Tuesday, Zach Johnson will pick his six wildcards for the Ryder Cup, to be played in Rome later next month. It’s probably one of the toughest tasks any captain faces – whom to pick and whom to make that dreaded call saying sorry – but Johnson’s job has become a lot more difficult after LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka fell out of the six automatic qualification spots. Because of the tussle between the two Tours, the PGA champion did remarkably well to get into contention from his limited starts. However, when Xander Schauffele closed with a 2-under 68 in the BMW Championship for a tied eighth place, Koepka fell from fifth to seventh. That would mean he’d need Johnson to name him as one of his six picks to be a part of the team in Italy. There is no denying the pedigree of the five-time major champion. He is playing great golf – also won twice recently on LIV Golf – and he is a proven big-match player. And unlike a couple of players in the Greg Norman-led Tour, the laidback Koepka gets along very well with most players who are still on the PGA Tour. Another LIV Golf star whose name has cropped up in recent conversations in Bryson DeChambeau. He recently shot a 58 in Greenbrier, a 61 on the previous day, and a most impressive 63 in Valderrama, which is one heck of a difficult golf course. I’d personally think DeChambeau might still be a long shot, but ignoring Koepka would be a horrible decision. | 
