Miguel Angel Jiménez expects the home contingent to pose a significant threat to his bid to extend his own record as The European Tour’s oldest winner at the Hero Indian Open.
The evergreen 51 year old Spaniard stretched his own record twice last year at the Hong Kong Open and Open de España.
But a strong home challenge, spearheaded by recent Maybank Malaysian Open winner Anirban Lahiri and also featuring European Tour winners SSP Chowrasia and Jeev Milkha Singh, are out to stop Jiménez – who has already had two top-ten finishes this season as well as winning on the Champions Tour.
“Asian golf is very popular now,” said Jiménez. “There are a lot of tournaments and a lot of people are coming to play here.
“The game is growing more and more in India and around the world. Golf is not about Europe or America but it is global with top golfers from all over the world and some of the young Indian players are starting to follow what Jeev (Milkha Singh) has done for so many years. Jeev is the pioneer of Indian golf and to see a new generation of Indian players coming through is great for the game here.
“Lahiri is obviously playing very well and will now start to play in the top tournaments around the world and that will help him to get better and better.”
Lahiri, meanwhile, is keen for the trophy to end up in Indian hands.
“I want an Indian to keep this trophy on home soil,” he said. “This is the event you want to win as an Indian.
“The Indian Open is a tournament which is steep in history. Delhi Golf Club has such a fantastic history to it. It is definitely one of those events where you want to play and win it.”
