Vijay heads strong field for golf meet

CHENNAI, SEPT 6: Having won the Cosmo-Hindu Open title last week, Vijay Kumar of Lucknow, would be the obvious favourite for the Colour P...

CHENNAI, SEPT 6: Having won the Cosmo-Hindu Open title last week, Vijay Kumar of Lucknow, would be the obvious favourite for the Colour Plus Open, the second event of the ’99 Wills Sport Golf Tour, commencing at the Madras Gymkhana Club, Guindy, here on Tuesday.

The manner in which Vijay Kumar, ranked No.1 in the ’98 Order of Merit list, tackled the Cosmo links and handled the opposition, suggested that he was on a roll and the course at Guindy seems to be tailor-made for him. The course has been extended by a further 365 yards, and golfers with long and accurate drives are expected to thrive.

Last week, Vijay Kumar showed what he was capable of with some lovely hitting which few could match for sheer audacity and accuracy.

The field for the event is virtually the same as last week’s, with Vijay Kumar, Feroz Ali, Ali Sher, Amritinder Singh, defending champion Sanjay Kumar, among others, heading the list of 100 professionals who have confirmed their entries. The draw also includes 12 amateurs.

Anotable absentee would be Delhi’s Gaurav Ghei who finished fourth in the Cosmo event. He is away in Taiwan for an APGA tournament.

The Gymkhana course is said to be one of the few links courses in the country, and has undergone some changes, including increased yardage on the third, seventh, 11th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes.