Experience matters: Mukesh Kumar

Mukesh has made the cut in nine of the 10 events he has played in the year, not winning any of them and this Chennai cheque is almost the total amount he earned from all the 10 before. And on Friday, he could even become the oldest on tour to win a PGTI event for the second year running. Kumar, one of the earliest professional golfers in India along with Vijay Kumar and Ali Sher, has won more than 100 events in the 32 years and he is a leading example of how smart players back home could make enough money without going for the Asian Tour or the European round. “The competition is tough now,” says Mukesh. “Because of the attractive PGTI prize money structure, there are more and more youngsters taking up golf and they come there very early compared to the old times.” 

He cited the purse at the Chennai Open (Rs 40 lakh) and the one in Bengaluru next week (Take Solutions with Rs one crore) as the main incentives for players. Many of the leaders on the Order of Merit, who have not come to Chennai will be up there in Bengaluru. However, Mukesh has no doubt that there is nothing like experience and what his generation of players, who generally turned pros after serving as caddies, learned hitting the balls day in and day out on the courses before an event, the youngsters would have to gain by actually playing. But, he agrees, it augurs well for the development of the sport as it is getting younger and younger. “I practise hitting 500 balls a day at the Delhi course and you need to do that constantly to keep yourself in the loop,” adds Mukesh, who hails from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. 9-shot lead for Mhow golfer On Thursday, Mukesh Kumar was in full cry as he continued in the lead for the third straight day at the Express Exclusive Chennai Open event. 

The veteran put up yet another dominant display in round three at the Madras Gymkhana golf course as he posted a bogey-free five-under-65 to build an almost insurmountable nine-shot lead with this total reading 16-under-194. Honey Baisoya of Delhi was a distant second at seven-under-203 after his third round of even-par-70 at the Rs. 40 lakh event.  Mukesh Kumar (61-68-65) extended his lead by five shots in round three courtesy some brilliant wedge shots. 

Mukesh, a winner of a record 17 titles on the PGTI, had a steady start to the third day as he made pars on the first six holes.  Mukesh took off with consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth where he landed it within three feet. When he set up another birdie putt from five feet on the 10th, it looked more and more like a one-horse race with no one in sight to challenge for the lead.    

Mukesh’s 15-feet birdie conversion on the 14th helped him add to his burgeoning lead. However, his excellent recovery from the rough on the 18th where he extracted another birdie was the proverbial ‘icing on the cake’. Mukesh said, “My wedge-play and chipping was really sharp today. I used my sand-wedge to great effect. I looked at playing safe to maintain my lead but the birdies still kept coming. I missed a few short putts but I won’t complain considering the position I’m in at the moment. “I had set out to achieve a score of four to five under over the last two rounds but I’ve already achieved that in round three. So now the focus will be on keeping it simple and playing percentage golf,” Mukesh added. Honey Baisoya could be the only competition for Mukesh on the final day since he’s striking it really well. The golfer also has to guard against being complacent in the home stretch.