Shamim Khan on his form entering 2017 and near miss at the Players Championship – Noida Golf Course
Today was a tough day on the links and even my putter didn’t favour me. I couldn’t drop a single putt all day long even though I struck the ball as good as I had all week. Putts within 10-15 feet are key if you want to win a tournament and unfortunately, it didn’t go my way. There wasn’t much different about the course other than the pin placements were slightly tougher and the wind was gusting. Honey’s score reflects a 3 under par round but even he was 1-over until the 13th .
It goes to show how the greenkeepers had the course playing and even the player who had his A-game was struggling.
Final Round Statistics
1st - 6th hole – Pars to make a solid start
7th hole – Bogey after drive found the bushes, approach to the edge of the green after taking a penalty drop, up and down for a bogey
9th hole – Drive in the trees, chip out to the fairway, good shot but couldn’t avoid bogey
13th hole – Drive went right in the water, still made a good recovery for bogey
18th hole – Birdie from 15 feet
This is one of my favourite courses but today I kept landing it in the wrong places. My round just didn’t take off. My putting average was poor as I missed a lot of eight to 12 feet putts. The only long putt I sank was on the final hole and by then it was too late. Nonetheless, it’s a solid start to the season and I feel I’m getting back to my best slowly but surely.
Shankar also hit it bad today compared to the last three days. He was in the trees on a lot of holes and that ruined his chances of winning. Him and I played together for 3 rounds and if it wasn’t for my bogey on 17 on the 2nd day, we would hve played together on all four days.
I knew Honey would be in the mix today as we have played a lot together at Delhi Golf Club and his win is not a surprise at all to me.
The off-season was a lot of practice in cold weather and wasn’t ideal. In an off-season of 1 month, you can’t change much related to your game so I was just working on fine tuning my game and getting comfortable with the equipment changes I made last year. A player needs atleast 2-3 months to make technique changes or any other major changes with regards to the approach to the game.
The PGTI is in a good phase with new talent coming on-board this season. Some of the top amateurs have decided to turn pro and come and play on the PGTI. I hope with increased competition, there will be increased money in tournaments and I am looking forward to facing tighter competition at events.
There will be a host of names this season vying for titles as every player plays differently from week to week, some courses uit some players and the others are just there to build up to those events where they feel comfortable. Therefore, I can't take any names specifically as to who will be the players to watch out for. Like I said, everyone can't play well everywhere.
The new players will lack experience of playing under pressure but I’m sure they will play with us and gain the experience to go ahead. I still remember the number of times I have been up against Anirban Lahiri in tournament-deciding situations and I’m sure all those instances have helped him in becoming the player he is now.
I will carry no expectations for the 2017 season. I want to focus on working hard and and keep continuing my routine of golf. I hope to keep playing on the same way and carry the momentum from last year hopefully.
Shankar Das on the progression of his game and his attempts to end his dry spell
I came into this week with the disappointment of not getting to play in the Asian Tour’s Bangladesh event due to some issues with the visa. However, I’ve been able to put that behind me with two solid rounds here in Noida.
This week, my short game was strong and my 3 wood was a key weapon for me. I’ve been striking it well with the 3-wood here and haven’t used the driver much. It is performing really well and was particularly supportive for me in my good rounds. I’ve put in a lot of work on my short-game in the last one month and that’s bearing fruit.
I feel I was a little unlucky this week as I missed a hole-in-one by a whisker and also narrowly missed eagles on two other occasions in my second round, that could have changed the complexion of the tournament.
My strategy was to hit fairways and greens entering the final day but unfortunately I didn’t do a very good job of that. I hit a lot of erratic tee shots throughout the week and it cost me a lot. I tried not to keep that in mind and play the way I was but at the end of the day, you pay a heavy price for not finding the fairways.
I’m hungry to win once again and now it’s a question of keeping up the tempo over the next few months.
I have one eye on the big events like the Indian Open coming up. I will prepare accordingly by practicing similar shots as that required at the tricky layout of DLF Golf & Country Club. It will be a true test of my all around game as accuracy off the tee, short game, approaches from within 150 yards; everything will be required.
I had a decent 2016 season which could’ve been much better had I been totally fit. A lower back injury suffered while playing football in my childhood came back to trouble me last year. But I’m feeling much fitter now having worked with a physiotherapist over the last two months. I’m now looking forward to playing to my potential this year.
Finally, I hope to keep building on the good things gradually to continue along this path. I am sure if I concentrate on the right things, a win is not too far away for me.
