Big names ready for Johnnie Walker golf

ALL SET: The Johnnie Walker Classic field boasts of some of the biggest names in world golf.

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New Delhi: The Johnnie Walker Classic, being played in India for the first time, has never produced an Asian winner. But the Indian golfers, led by Jyoti Randhawa, would be counting on home advantage to steer them to success.

South African Anton Haig played in the pro-celebrity game ahead of the Johnnie Walker Classic at the DLF Golf and Country Club. Haig produced an upset play-off win in the last edition in Phuket to replace Tiger Woods as the youngest winner of the tournament.

"It is going to be a tough week mentally but I have got to not worry about the pressure. The players here are the winners, so, you got to have pressure. I have just got to relax and enjoy myself this week," said Haig.

Haig will be happy to ease into the background in the presence of big names such as Australian world number five Adam Scott, Fijian Vijay Singh and Scotland's eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie.

Most of the Indian golfers know that the DLF Golf and Country Club are like the back of their hands. Most agree that winning the tournament here will not be easy for the Indian golfers, especially with the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh and Adam Scott also in the recokning.

"It is not only the American golfers, but also the European golfers as well as the top Asian golfers - that includes the Indian golfers as well. Hopefully, we will see a good competition this week and a good winner," said Vijay Singh.

Meanwhile, the tournament organisers would be keen to scrutinise the turnout in terms of both fans and the media before making any decisions on coming back to India.

"For the event to be successful, we will have to look at the returns that we get in terms of the media coverage and media exposure. And if it is up to the sort of levels that we have set the criterion on, then certainly India would be considered in the future," said Peter German.

Clearly, while the field boasts of some of the biggest names in world golf, most believe it would hardly be surprising if an Indian walks away with the trophy, with their knowledge and experience of the conditions.