Anyone for an Indian Takeaway

Hi Guys,

What an amazing day for Indian sport as little Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia gave his home supporters a glory day normally reserved solely for the cricket pitch when he delighted the crowds to win the first European Tour event to be held in India, the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters.

This young golfer who prefers to be called SSP and given his second name that is probably easier for an English audience.

SSP began the day a couple of shots off the lead but scintillating golf allied to a glowing happy smile ensured he moved smoothly through the field to become the third golfer from India to win a European Tour event following his compatriots Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh.

the 29 year old udes to be a caddie at Royal Calcutta Golf Club where his father was a greenkeeper and he used to sneak onto the course at night to play a few holes under the cover of darkness and learn the game.

Now having moved up to seventh on the Order of Merit, he has every golf course on The European Tour International Schedule at his disposal until the end of the 2010 season thanks to a two year exemption which begins at the end of this year.

I think everyone (including myself) was expecting a charge from pre tournament favourite Ernie Els, but the big move in the early stages came from the little guy, three birdies in the first four holes giving notice to the rest of the field that SSP meant business.

It moved SSP to the summit of the leaderboard and he never moved from there, a snake like 40 foot birdie putt at the seventh and a 15 footer at the 11th being his only other birdies but par play all the way home was plenty good enough for victory as other faltered.

In the end his final round 67 for a nine under par total of 279 gave him a two shot victory over Ireland’s Damien McGrane, who battled bravely but could not find the birdies to mount a serious challenge and whose final round 70 left him on seven under par 281.

As well as the winners cheque for more tan 250,000 Euro and the trophy, he was also presented with an Omega watch by local Bollywood superstar Abishek Bacchan, whose appearance at the prize giving whipped the crowds up even further who were already delirious with their countryman’s victory on home soil.

Chowrasia said: “Over the last five holes I did think about winning and I just wanted to stay calm and focus on my target. I feel like I have played very well and stayed calm. I never thought that I could win this tournament, but I don’t know what I’m going to do in the future. I am sure I will play more both in Asia and particularly in Europe.”

Hope you enjoyed this weeks coverage of Tourney Talk and i’ll be back with a report from the AT&T later this evening.

All the best

Richard