When Tiger Woods visited Delhi Golf Club (DGC) earlier this year, an unprecedented number of people thronged the course. On Wednesday, Australian golf legend Peter Thomson was at the DGC but there was hardly anyone apart from the club members and mediapersons. The buzz was conspicuous by its absence. Probably Thomson is too old — he is 85 — to evoke interest among people.
Even most of the people in India might not have heard his name before. But he was central to Indian golf. Thomson along with the founder member of the DGC Dr Bharat Ram, for whose centenary celebration he was here, was instrumental in giving India its biggest and oldest golf tournament - Indian Open which was first played in 1964 and was won by Thomson.
"I helped the Indian Open get the participation of many big names of the days and that was my contribution. And I liked playing at the DGC," Thomson, who won Indian Open three times, said.
Recalling his friend Ram, Thomson said he was a towering figure in Indian golf. "He was the best man to go to if you wanted to help golf in India. I was in awe of him. He was so good and generous and loved the game so passionately and he knew everyone."
Despite embracing the game before any other country in the Asian continent, Thomson felt India was losing the race to be the Asian powerhouse. "India was ahead of Asia. I think it was 1826 (1829 is the year), golf was played in Dumdum, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Scottish Army brought with them clubs and made a course to play on. But it didn't happen everywhere. It was very prominent in Kolkata only," he said when asked about the Indian and Asian golf during his time.
"The truth is India is lagging a little bit. The nation that is surging ahead is Korea; Japan not so much. We got to face up to the fact that golf is associated with affluence. The nations who have become affluent, there is more golf," he added.
Thomson was a big name in golfing world in the 1950s and 60s. He was the only golfer to win the Open Championship three consecutive times — 1954, 1955, 1956 — in the 20th century. After losing it in 1957, Thomson regained the trophy in 1958. But all those victories came in the absence of top golfers from the United States who missed the tournament due to lack of sufficient prize money. However, his 1965 victory proved that he could beat the world's best as that win came against a field that included as that victory came against a field that included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tony lema, three of the top four American golfers from the 1964 Money list.
Asked which of the five victories he cherished the most, Thomson said, "One was like another. It's like you have five children and you love each one equally."
Golf is going to be making its re-entry into the Olympics in 2016 but Thomson isn't too optimistic about it."The trouble is who plays in itIJ How do they select themIJ Not easy to do. Somebody prominent might be left out," he said.
"It's more useful for the countries which up till now have been sympathetic to golf. It will stimulate players in such places — Africa, Europe and other nations. We will wait to see the outcome. And if it fails, we will drop it like we did the last time we played in 1904," he added.According to Thomson, Rory McIlroy is the best golfer around as he dismissed the possibility of Tiger Woods' resurgence. "(Rory) McIlroy is the best," he said.
"He hits too many golf balls. like most of the golfers do. That's where the injury comes from. If he carefully manages his number of hits during the practice, then he will live a long time in golf. I hope that makes sense!
"I doubt that (Woods would be able to break Jack Nicklaus' record) because of his injuries. He is not able to get rid of the injuries," he added.