Jyoti Randhawa has a simple plan as he prepares his date with history on the eve of the 132nd British Open Championship, which starts at the Royal St George's course in Sandwich, England, on Thursday.
The Indian ace, who was rewarded with a direct entry into the oldest golf championship in the world by virtue of winning the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit crown, appeared excited about his chances after playing several practice rounds ever since reaching the venue last week.
"I am looking forward to playing here and am hoping for a much better finish than what I managed at St Andrew's," said Randhawa on phone from Sandwich.
"I am sure I will benefit immensely from that experience. It is difficult to take out the fact that you are playing the British Open, but I am going to try and treat this as just another tournament and will take it hole-by-hole during the next four days," said the 31-year-old who had qualified for the millennium Open at St Andrew's in 2000.
Randhawa has been paired with Denmark's Anders Hansen and American John Rollins and will go out at 10:26 am on Thursday, and at 3:22 pm on Friday.
"Seeing the Indian flag fluttering high at a British Open venue has filled me with great sense of pride. I am highly motivated at the moment and my game is geared up for the tournament," added Randhawa, who has proved himself to be quite an expert on links course by finishing sixth in the US$-5 million Dunhill Links Championship last year.
"The Royal St George's course is much more forgiving than what I thought it would be. But the ball is running on the fairways and there are several humps on them that can deflect the best of shots into the roughs. You get some funny bounces, but that is fine as you get some good ones and you get some bad ones," said the Indian, when asked about the course condition.
"I would love to finish in the top-10, but I am looking forward to the Open as an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the very best names in the world. It is a great yardstick for measuring your game against theirs as you are playing the same conditions and same course," added Randhawa.
