Fairway star

India's number one golfer has just achieved a famous tournament win but believes his best years are ahead.

Jyoti Randhawa is at the Delhi Golf Club in his capacity as a brand ambassador "" he's here to unveil a new range of golf sets and equipment by the Japanese company Mizuno, which he represents.

India's No. 1 golfer makes the expected press-savvy statements "" "Mizuno irons are the best I have played with" "" but does it in such an unrehearsed way that there's no doubting his sincerity.

He's open-faced, likeable, very patient: later, cornered by one soundbite-seeking TV channel after another, he keeps his calm, and when it's time for this interview, suggests we sit on a mound in the middle of the green, since other journalists are waiting their turn near the clubhouse.

Even given the 32-year-old Randhawa's stature in his game, the cream of the city's sports media wouldn't ordinarily have been present for this launch.

But the occasion had been rendered special: just three days earlier, Randhawa had won the Volvo Masters Asia Golf Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, beating Australia's Terry Pilkadaris in a play-off to lift the $550,000 title.

It was his first tournament win in a year-and-a-half, and Randhawa admits that it makes a big difference. "It's not that I haven't had a good year on the whole," he says, adding candidly that his income this year is better than it was the last.

"But getting your hands around an actual trophy takes your motivation soaring to new heights."

How does Volvo stack up against his other triumphs? Very high, says Randhawa, but at the top of the heap is still his Indian Open win in 2000.

"Maybe it's the patriot in me speaking, but that gave me the most pleasure. I didn't want to win various international events and then have my kids growing up and asking me where my Indian Open title was."

Randhawa is one among a generation of Indian golfers "" Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaurav Ghei are some of the others "" who have seen the game's popularity in India grow during the course of their careers. "I shake my head in wonder," he says, "when I see five-year-old kids practising at the DLF course, with their parents looking on proudly. It was so different in our time." He himself came into the sport aged 14 and started taking it seriously only around five or six years ago.

"My father, an army officer, wanted me to do mechanical engineering. But thankfully, there wasn't much resistance when I made up my mind to pursue golf seriously."

Randhawa practices between four and eight hours a day but believes in that old chestnut, "98 per cent of golf is played between the ears". The pro cautions though that this dictum applies only once technique has been learnt and refined. "Today's kids have the advantage of b etter technology, which can only help their development," he says.

"The sport is in good shape now," he says. "We have courses springing up all around the country and youngsters like Shiv Kapur, Ashok Kumar and Rahil Gangjee are the clear torchbearers for the next generation."

Which doesn't, of course, mean that he's hanging up his clubs anytime soon. "I haven't even peaked yet," he says matter-of-factly, "I'll probably be at the top of my game by the time I'm 35-36, and should continue till at least the age of 45. I have my sights set on the world's major tournaments."

And just in case anyone was wondering how important golf is to him, Randhawa shows his hand while discussing another of his loves, motorbiking.

His eyes light up when he talks about his Yamaha Y2F, but ask him if he ever considered professional biking and his mouth sets into a straight line. "No way," he says. "It's dangerous, and I could never risk an injury that would keep me out of golf."