Strong Indian presence at Shanghai Open golf

The other Indians in the event being held in China’s booming financial capital are Amandeep Johl, Harmeet Kahlon, Rahil Gangjee and Gaurav Ghei. Barring Ghei, who did not play, the other five had missed the cut in Beijing last week at the Johnnie Walker Classic.

For the second straight week, Randhawa has been paired with the defending champion, Jimenez and this time the third player in the group will be Colin Montgomerie, who was sixth last week. That will be the morning’s most high profile group, while in the afternoon, the focus will be on Ernie Els, who plays with K J Choi and Paul Casey. Johl plays in a group with Kenneth Ferrie and the Thai Chawalit Plaphol, while Jeev is paired with Lu Wen Te and Nobuhito Sato. Ghei plays with Jean-Francois Lucquin and China’s Zeng Fa Qi. Kahlon will be with Adam Groom and Chris Williams. Gangjee goes out with Marcus Fraser and Soren Hansen.

Amongst the other big stars in attendance Chinese No.1 Zhang Lian-Wei, Nick Faldo and Asia’s big names, Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant besides Randhawa. Jimenez, whose 2004 haul also included wins in Hong Kong and Thailand, is delighted to be back at Tomson to defend his BMW Asian Open title.