Says happy to win first c’ship

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

“Winning doesn’t come cheaply, you have to pay a big price.” The saying by Jeev Milkha Singh is still a favourite for city’s upcoming 19-year-old golfer Aadil Bedi, who won his maiden PGTI title in Kolkata on Sunday.

A die-hard fan of Jeev Milkha Singh, Bedi took up golf at the age of four. And the two people who have been a driving force for him are Jeev Milkha Singh and his father and mentor Harry Bedi.

Aadil’s desire to emulate Jeev Milkha Singh has made him work towards his and his father’s aim day and night. Focused completely towards golf, they both learn from the mistakes — what Aadil makes during various championships and Harry makes while providing him with the best.

Aadil almost took two years to lift a trophy. Last year, he played in 13 PGTI tournaments, made cut in nine but failed to win any. He finished among the top-5 in five championships last year. Considering his performance, his father decided to improve his functioning and set-up a personal hi-tech equipment lab at the Forest Hill Golf Resort.

Besides taking basic training from coach Jesse Grewal, Aadil then decided to attend a two-month long hi-tech coaching programme under famous golf coach Dr Bob Byman in the USA. Aadil not only improved his posture but also updated his equipment to get the most out of it. The result was seen on Sunday when he won the maiden title on the sixth playoff hole against Pune golfer Udayan Mane, who was on an incredible three-event winning streak on the TATA Steel PGTI.

“The time spent with Byman really helped me improve my spinal and neck posture. From my putter to irons, I have changed it all to match up to my performance. The equipment was tested by using modern mechanical technology before I started using it,” said Aadil from Kolkata. “Last year, I missed winning titles by a whisker. It was a harsh period as I committed silly mistakes. The improvement in my spine angle really helped me to remain relaxed even under immense pressure. I was a bit nervous during the playoff, but really happy to start my season by winning the title,” added Aadil.

Aadil made his pro debut in the 2018 Panasonic Open in Bengaluru and thereafter participated in 13 tour events during 2019. He earned a total of $24,000 in the Asian Tour and around Rs 21, 80,000 in PGTI tour.

“My world ranking will be up now and I am really looking forward to it. It will be cleared tomorrow, but I believe it will be somewhere around 800. If the Tokyo Olympics get delayed by a year due to ongoing Covid-19 virus scare, I might get into a good flow to qualify for the event. I am confident that this year would more positive after this start,” said Aadil.

Meanwhile, Harry said upgrading his lab helped his son a lot. “We have upgraded the lab with equipment from the USA and having Trackman, KVest and sensor level plates and some computer software for analysing the force and direction of the swing. We installed it at the Forest Hill Resort. Golfer Gurbaz Mann helped us a lot in choosing the right equipment. Aadil was attending short-duration courses with Byman but considering his performance last year we decided to gain more this time. It worked and now he has nine Asian Tour events lined up this year after he redeemed his PGTI card,” said Harry.

As an amateur, Aadil had played 275 championships and won 175. Later, he became the youngest Indian golfer to secure an Asian Tour card for 2019 after finishing tied-ninth in the Asian Tour Q School held at Hua Hin (Thailand) and also represented India in the 2018 Asian Games. He was the youngest player in the final stage of Q School and carded a round of 8-under 63 in the fifth round to secure his Asian Tour card.