New Delhi: One of the many perks of being Kapil Dev is that you’re destined to be treated as a sporting royalty. The flipside, if there is any, is that it’s virtually impossible to sit by the 18th hole and sip some cappuccino quietly, for the requests for signatures and selfies can get a little too much. Having lived that adulation for much of his 66 years, it’s easy for Kapil to put his game face on and pose, but when he gets talking on golf, Kapil’s easy charm and infectious enthusiasm need to be seen to be believed.
“This is my second innings. I left the life of a cricketer long back. It’s golf, and only golf now,” he said. That’s obvious, considering the 1983 World Cup-winning captain is now the president of Professional Golf Tournament of India (PGTI), and in that respect, the ongoing DP World India Championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC), Kapil said, is “the most significant development in Indian golf.”
That’s not an exaggeration. With LIV golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann having competed at the DLF course in Gurugram earlier this year, Ladies European Tour (LET) stars Shannon Tan and Mimi Rhodes being in action at last week’s Women’s India Open, and Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood gunning for the title at the DGC, Indian golf has never had it this big.
“It’s a reflection of our rising stature. Over the past 50-70 years, any country that has done well economically has also done well at sports, and that can’t be a co-incidence. Sports’ soft power is for real, and for a global game to find such a footing in India is incredible,” he said.
The successful conduct of such big-ticket golf events in the country, Kapil said, is also a proof of India’s willingness and readiness to host large-scale multi-discipline sporting events. “We want to host the Olympics, and as an Indian, that makes me super proud. It shows our ambition. DP World India Championship is a message to the larger sporting community that India is ready and waiting.”
“This is the first time that a $4 million tournament is happening in India. It’s an event that’s co-sanctioned by the PGTI which makes me extra proud. As the domestic tour, we are committed to give the best we can to our players, be it in terms of money or opportunities. The number of tournaments on PGTI have gone up, we have good money in our kitty, and we are poised to grow even more,” he went on.
The footfall at the DP World India Championship despite this being a festive week has left Kapil delighted. Over the past week, his day begins with a round of the course before meeting the who’s who of the golf community. Tell him that DP World has pledged to support the domestic tour and wants more PGTI events on the calendar, the man who knows a thing or two about transforming sports said, “That will be a gamechanger. I want more corporates to support us. India has tremendous latent talent in this sport. With golf being an Olympic sport, we should give it all the support it needs.”
“I remember a time when we didn’t have too many good golf courses, but now, there are enough courses across the width of the nation, each good enough to host the likes of Rory and Bryson. All our stands are booked. We’re going to have even better turnout over the weekend.”
With Tommy Fleetwood leading the charts and McIlroy on the chase, Kapil wants Indian golfers to take a leaf out of their international counterparts’ books and raise their game. “You won’t get a better opportunity to learn if you’re an Indian golfer playing here. I watch every player intently, and I have been watching Tommy and Rory particularly closely. One thing that our boys can learn from is their focus. These guys never waver, never give up.Their approach is very strategic. “
The PGTI league, Kapil said, is very much on the cards and a number of discussions have already taken place to “take the domestic tour to heights it has never been to before.”
“There are a lot of things in the pipeline. All I can say is, India has the potential to become the preferred golf destination of the world,” he said, before being swarmed again.
