| The golden rule of golf, and life…you’ve got to keep pace with time  Source: Joy Chakrabarty A few days ago, I came across a few clippings of my old articles. Reading them evoked a strong sense of nostalgia and fond memories. However, I was also surprised that much of the work that was a matter of great pride to me back then, appears pedestrian now. There are many words and phrases that I used back then but will refrain from using now. There is a lot more depth in understanding my sport, and people. Most importantly, I felt I would have treated many of these stories differently – things that I thought were important at that time, don’t seem as important now. And things I buried deep in the story seem to have greater significance now. As I was in the middle of sorting the clippings, I got a call from Shubhankar Sharma. He was taking a week off in Dubai after the two UAE Rolex Series events and the Saudi International and wanted to come over to my house. Interestingly enough, our talk veered to Sharma’s recent form and the fact that he hasn’t won on the DP World Tour ever since his barnstorming start in 2017 and ’18, when he won the Joburg Open and Maybank Malaysian Open in a matter of two months. “If you ask me, I won the two titles and then performed well until the Open Championship in July because I was riding the momentum. It happens so many times in golf that despite technical shortcomings, everything clicks for a week or two. You play well, the confidence goes up and you carry it to another week, and then another. That’s what happened to me in 2018,” said Sharma. “To be honest, I had no idea of what it takes to succeed at the highest level, and the kind of knowledge I needed to accrue to perform on a daily basis or feel comfortable when I have to move from one tournament to another, because it meant being challenged by a completely new set of conditions. And that may just be finding a restaurant that serves vegetarian food. “The honest assessment is that I am playing at least 100% better now, compared to 2018. I am better mentally, physically, and skill-wise. I have a lot more understanding of my swing, and I have a far greater understanding of conditions and courses. I have at least 50 more different shots in my arsenal now than when I was winning those titles. I know I am a much better player now.” A couple of days later, I managed to organise a fourball featuring Sharma, Anirban Lahiri, Bollywood actor Madhavan and former PGTI regular Sujjan Singh, who is now a teaching pro in Dubai. The four of them got along like house on fire and it was a laughter fest all the way. I absolutely enjoyed the five odd hours we were together at the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates. During the round, I asked Maddy which movie he considered his finest work to date. Personally, of the numerous hits Madhavan has given us, my No1 is his edgy Tamil sensation ‘Vikram Vedha’ (believe me, the original version is streets ahead of the recent Hindi one). However, because I was thinking of my own experience and my talk with Sharma, I was willing to take any bet that his answer would be ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’, his latest movie that was also shortlisted for Oscars this year. Yup! Rocketry it was. It’s not just another movie for Madhavan. It’s truly a labour of love. Not only did he act in it, he was so convinced about the story that he also wrote the script, directed and produced it. A few minutes later, Lahiri hit a very impressive 80-yard shot from a difficult lie in a fairway bunker – one of the toughest shots in the sport. The quality of his golf, from around the time he finished second to Cam Smith at the Players Championship, has been exceptional. I saw him play LIV events in Boston, Chicago and Jeddah, and the Saudi International a week ago. He is rarely missing a shot. So, I mentioned that to Lahiri as we walked off the green, and he agreed in a heartbeat. “I have been playing seriously good golf for some time. In my case, it has also got to do with the mental freedom that I seem to have now. I have made my decisions (to join LIV Golf/to move to Dubai) and I am at peace with myself. I can completely focus on my golf, and nothing is weighing me down,” he said. There is a common thread here that runs through these top proponents of their craft. They don’t dwell in the past. They are constantly trying to improve themselves and succeeding in it. The fact that they believe they a better version of themselves is not just a hunch – they will be able to back their claim with hundreds of solid stats as well. Evolution, as we know it, happens at too slow a pace to be noticed, but this is the kind of evolution of human beings that unfolds right in front of your eyes. You probably cannot become better than others, but if you haven’t improved your own self, it just means that you are in the wrong job. You need to shake things up. And as Sharma has proven over these last few years, big results (wins) are not the only way of measuring progress. You keep hard at it, and like drops of water, little improvements make a mighty difference as time progresses. There are a couple of golfing anecdotes that I’d like to leave you with… It reminded me of a Tiger Woods interaction from some years ago. During a press conference, a journalist asked Woods, who had won around 70 titles on the PGA Tour by then, as to which was his best win. Woods did not even think for a moment. “My next one,” was his brilliant reply. And then there was the time I interviewed Henrik Stenson when he was just coming out of his second loss of form. Nothing seem to be going right for the Swede, but he kept hard at it and there were greenshoots appearing in his game. A couple of years later, he would go on to become the first player ever to win the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same year. During one of our meetings at Emirates Golf Club, I asked him what he learned during those dark years. After his usual witty one-liners, the Iceman turned serious and replied: “A lot. To begin with, I have a pretty good idea of what not to do, which only comes from such an experience. And I have learned that there is no substitute for hard work.” You should read about… Return of Tiger…Without saying anything about the state of his leg, Tiger Woods has announced that he will be playing this week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. This will be his first competitive round walking after the missed cut at the Open Championship. He was hoping to make a return at the Hero World Challenge in the first week of December last year, but withdrew at the last moment because of plantar fasciitis in his right leg. Masterpiece restored… We spoke about this last week. St Andrews Links Trust decided to change the pathway that leads to the famous Swilcan Bridge and that did not go down well with the fans. The circular stone pathway created on either side of the bridge, apparently a move to prevent the massive wear and tear of the turn in that area, has now been taken off after thousands of tweets on the subject. The decision to remove the installation comes after the Trust said in a statement: “We believe we are unable to create a look which is in keeping with its iconic setting and have taken the decision to remove it.” Are you ready for ‘Full Swing’?… I don’t know about you, but I have mostly cleared my diary over the next couple of days to binge-watch ‘Full Swing’, the Netflix docuseries on the 2022 season in golf. The premier was held on the sidelines of the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the eight episodes drop on the OTT platform on Wednesday, February 15. | 
