Jeev Milkha: Breaking into big league

By John Cheeran
In 1997, as part of putting together a special edition to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Indian independence, a few of us in New Delhi tried to zero in on India's future sports stars. In a cricket obsessed India of that time, a name that came up was that of young golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.
Almost 10 years down the line we have been proved prescient. The 34-year-old Jeev Milkha has paid us back for our faith in him with a splendid triumph in the Volvo Masters to reach a career-best 77th place in the world rankings. Jeev won the Volvo Masters of Europe at the Club de Golf Valderrama on October 29 and became the first Asian to win in Europe.
His win came in a field that included strong players like Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. With the victory, Jeev has now jumped into the European Tour Top 20, with a ranking of 16 and also in the top-100 in the world rankings. Earlier in the year Jeev had won the China Open in Beijing.
Jeev did not have many Indian golf heroes to emulate. In that sense he has been a pioneer.
In recent times, he has had steady competition in India. Jeev's contemporaries include Indian Open winner Jyoti Randhawa who is on the 105th spot in the global list while Shiv Kapur is on 203. Gaurav Ghei occupies 229 position while Arjun Atwal is on the 245th spot.
Now Jeev is aiming to become the first Indian to qualify for the US Masters. A top 50 place would give him an automatic entry to the opening major of the year.
Jeev wrote about his achievement the other day in the Asian tour website. "It hasn't set in yet. It's certainly a dream come true, to win one of the biggest events of the year in Europe. A goal of mine now will be to get into the top 50 in the world which will also earn me an invite to the US Masters."
We have had a history of individuals breaking free from the shackles of the system and coming up with a glory moment. Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand won All England Open in badminton; Vijay Amritraj, Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes pulled off some thrilling wins on the ATP Tour.
Jeev's father Milkha Singh was a renowned athlete for India who broke an Olympic record in Rome but failed to win a medal in 400 metres. The recall value of Milkha Singh as an athlete in contemporary India will be minimal. Milkha has been bitter about the shoddy system we have in place for sport.
Though athletics too is an individual pursuit, in the Indian context, it offers meagre returns. Not for nothing that Milkha encouraged his son to take the narcissistic sport of all, golf.
Golf is the ultimate corporate sport. The beauty of the golf is that you do not compete with other individuals, but your battle is with the course.
A defeat in a golf tournament is not a severe blow for your ego; you bow before the strength of the course. You are defeated, but you are not humiliated. That alone should be reason enough for the Indian upper class to pick up the golf club.
The golf circuit in India is going through its own convulsions but time will ensure that it settles down and offers vigorous competition.
Indian golfers are brushing shoulders with the best in the world on the European Tour. They deserve our attention for the simple fact that they are getting real by every day.
India, however, needs a people's champion in golf which is yet to happen. Till such time golf will remain an elitist exercise in India.