By Ishwar Nath Jha
New Delhi, Apr 14 (IANS): One of the most prolific golfers in the country, Khalin Joshi feels that Anirban Lahiri's achievement at the Players Championship will act as an inspiration for Indian golfers and brings a sense of belief that they can do wonders in the international events.
India's top golfer, the 34-year-old Anirban Lahiri, came agonisingly close to a maiden PGA Tour title when he finished second to Cameron Smith of Australia at The Players Championship on March 15 in Ponte Vedra Beach (Florida).
"That was a stellar performance. All of us were hoping he would get the win but finishing in second place in a tournament as big as this is great too! The way he performed at the tournament is not only inspiring but also gives us, as well as aspiring golfers, the hope that if we work hard, we can all do wonders," said Joshi.
Joshi, who won the 2018 Panasonic Open at the Delhi Golf Club for his maiden Asian Tour success and had a couple of good finishes in recent times, said he needs to improve his game. He said that his long-term plan is to win again in Asia and then move on to Europe.
"We have had a busy first quarter, thus far. My immediate plan is to take a break in the coming months to work on my game. My long-term plan is to win again in Asia and then move on to Europe, and for that I want to concentrate on improving my game, especially my long game," Joshi told IANS.
The team of Kartik Sharma, Khalin Joshi and Oviya Reddi was placed fourth with their gross score reading nine-under 135 at the Ballantine's Golf Championship Mixed Pro Challenge held in Gurugram recently.
Supporting the events like Ballantine's Golf Championship Mixed Pro Challenge, Joshi said that it was a great experience to be part of a team with top women golfers. He added that such events must be organised regularly to promote golf in India.
"Honestly, it is a unique experience for all of us. This is the first time we have played a mixed event in India, and it is obviously the first time all of us have played the event, and it was a great experience for all of us to play with the girls. They have some really good shot games, and all of us learnt a thing or two from their shot games, but overall, it was a great experience. We are really happy with this tournament, and hopefully, we can have a few more of them in the near future," he said.
"It means a lot to all of us because we need more events like that to give us Indian players an opportunity to go out and play bigger tournaments, and hopefully we will continue to have big sponsors like Ballantine's and Mastercard, who have events like these that can help us improve our ranking and play on higher tours," Joshi said.