Joshi among players aiming to become first to win Panasonic Open title twice

No golfer has won the Panasonic Open India more than once and India's Khalin Joshi will be among the select band of players to try and do it for the first time, when the event tees off at a new venue on Thursday.

The USD 400,000 full field Asian Tour event will be played from November 14-17 at the Classic Golf and Country Club for the first time. The previous editions were held at the Delhi Golf Club.

Players from as many as 17 countries have entered for the event, which has become well known for producing Indian winners. Seven of the eight winners going back to 2011 have been Indian, but no one has been able to repeat the success.

The 2019 edition will see five of the eight previous winners return to the event with Joshi leading the way and Shiv Kapur, Mukesh Kumar, Chiragh Kumar and Digvijay Singh giving Joshi company in the winners' gallery.

Joshi, who had a series of Top-10s before grabbing his first win at the Panasonic Open India, will be hoping to buck the trend and become the first repeat winner.

"It's going to be exciting defending my first Asian Tour title. I like the golf course and my game is getting more positive and I'm confident. The win is still very fresh on my mind. I putted and drove the ball really well that week," Joshi said.

"There are positive signs now as I'm getting those similar feelings like last year. I just got to just block out unnecessary thoughts like I'm the defending champion and just play my own game."