Looking ahead to the European season

After more than a few weeks in United States, it is time for golf in Europe. And what can be a better way to start than teeing off the European sojourn with the flagship event, the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth.

The Wentworth Club at Virginia Water is a kind of a headquarters for European Tour and what a great golf course this is. As is only to be expected the weather is ‘very’ European and English – cold, rainy and windy but of course with some brief spells of cold sunshine. The conditions are so completely different from what one gets in US or in Asia. But that’s what makes golf so interesting – playing in different conditions.

It was great to catch up with Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia, who I have not played with since the Asian leg of the European Tour in Malaysia and India. It was fun exchanging notes and I really enjoyed their company after being the only Indian at the last few events that I played.

After reaching Wentworth, I played with Shiv and SSP. Of course, we have played together countless times, but this was another experience to be cherished at Wentworth. The ball flies much shorter here and Wentworth has lots of doglegs and tricky tee shots around the course. It was good to get around once and I am sure another round at the Pro-Am should get me in the right frame.

I have played in Europe off and on, but am looking forward to my first full season as a member, thanks first to the Qualifying School and then those two wins in Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open. Sure, the European Tour began a long time back in January with events in South Africa, Middle-East, Asia (including India), but the main European season in many senses takes off with the BMW PGA after a couple of events in Portugal and Spain.

This event is truly a celebration of the European Tour. There are so many events around the main event and the European Tour Players Awards night was spectacular. It was star-studded and Rory McIlroy was the toast. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, David Lipsky, Thongchai Jaidee, Scott Hend and I got around together as we have all won co-sanctioned events on European Tour in recent months. After the Awards night, the Pro-Am was as special with so many celebrities from the World of sport, business and entertainment. As I said, it is truly an event, which celebrates golf and glamour together.